Operation: AMBER
by StarfirePhantom
Summary: Now with 3 endings! COMPLETE! All Amber Wigglestein and her siblings have ever known is pain, fear, punishment, and withdrawal from the world, thanks to Father. But now, at their darkest hour, she must seek help from the most unlikely people in the world.
1. Prolouge: Follow Your Dreams

This is my first attempt at KND fanfiction. Please bear with me!

Now uploading:

Codename: Kids Next Door- Operation: A.M.B.E.R.

Actually  
Mentally  
Brainwashed  
Enemies possibly  
Reclaimed

---

Prologue: Follow Your Dreams

Nigel Uno's Dreamworld

Around 3 am

"You won't get away with this, Mr.Wigglestein! Surrender, before we fire our big pointy thingies at you!"

"My name...is Father," Father said. "And I'm sure that you will see that there is no harm in what I am doing."

Father was standing in front of a weird looking machine. A bunch of people were congregated in front of him. Several were adults. But most were kids. Angry kids. Kids in armor.

The Kids Next Door.

"Now, friends," Father continued, "I am about to demonstrate a machine that will change your life-for the better. I am demonstrating a way to create- THE PERFECT CHILD!!"

Cheers came from the adults, but the KND were unmoved. One small agent stepped forward. She was dark-skinned and had wild hair barely visible underneath her helmet, marked '11'.

"We know what you are really doing, Fatherbutt! You plan to brainwipe innocent children into doing your bidding! And we're going to stop you!"

"Shut up, Numbuh 11," another agent said. "You'll just aggravate him."

Father ignored the conversation. "Anyway-these children, once transformed, will be the dream of every parent! They will obey all orders. They will not fall to relentless pop culture. And- they will never break curfews!"

Cheers once again escalated. "And now, the moment everyone has been waiting for!" Father moved away to reveal a table. Strapped to the table were several kids- or babies, more accurately. The oldest looked barely old enough to read (or be in the KND), and the youngest was at least six months old. They were all wailing their heads off.

Father moved toward the machine. He pushed a few buttons, flicked a few switches, and made a loud BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP noise. The machine charged, and strange conelike devices surrounded the children.

"Daddy, what's going on?" the oldest said. He had a look of total fear in his eyes. "I'm scared!" He began to cry.

"Don't worry, son," Father said, with completely and obviously fake sweetness. "Everything will be okay."

"ATTACK!" an operative shouted. The KND swarmed the machine, trying vainly to disconnect it. But it was no use. Amid loud screams and wails, blue light surrounded the kids in the tubes. There was one final scream...and then quiet. The KND watched in horror as the cones lifted.

The children walked-or crawled-over to Father. They didn't look any different, except for the fact that their eyes...were a different color.

"Now," Father said, "Attack, my new perfect ones."

"Yes, Father..."

The last thing that happened was a shot of the machine. Before she was swarmed, Numbuh 11 was able to see the evil cones.

And the cords on two of them-the cords that connected the cones to the machine- were frayed.

"Guys!" 11 shouted. "I think we can-"

---

"Gyaa!" Numbuh 1 shouted as he woke up, sweating. He looked around his room. No crazy machines. No Father.

"Man, that was weird," he said. "I wonder what that dream means." Suddenly, an alarm sounded. "Why do the evil villans always attack at 4 in the morning?" Numbuh 4 said, sounding annoyed. Hearing this, Numbuh 1 instantly forgot the dream. He leaped up.

"Kids Next Door- BATTLE STATIONS!"

---

So? Good? Bad? Cheesy? Heh. Bye!


	2. Welcome to Resistance

Ah... after a long 4 hours of labor, here's the first mysterious chapter! At least, I think it's mysterious... Oh, and in case your'e wondering, I got the chapter title from Switchfoot's song'Dare You To Move'. Very good song, that is.

Annalisa: Thankies! And yes, Amber is the blond girl. And the main character, thankfully.

Jessica: Thanks. I've heard a lot of horror stories about fanfic here. And here is the next chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own Kids Next Door, blah blah blah...

Chapter 1: Welcome to Resistance

Numbuh 5 glared at the screen. _When are the others going to get here?_ She thought. _Am I the only attentive one? _She groaned. She, like everyone else, wished she were tucked in bed, dreaming about swimming in pudding. She loved the Kids Next Door-except for the midnight missions, which happened all the time and were _always_ annoying.

About ten minutes later, the rest of Sector V came in, puffy-eyed and drowsy. "Yeah, what?" Numbuh 2 groaned.

"Look!" Numbuh 5 said. She pointed at the screen.

The image was of the Delightful Children from Down the Lane. They were in a little kid's closet. One of them was putting on a grotesque monster outfit. After he had zippered the zipper, the group of five giggled maniacally.

"Monsters in the closet gag?" Numbuh 3 said. "That's just mean!"

"Yes, we know," Numbuh 5 said. "The house that they're in happens to be the one down the street. My sister baby-sits there, so I've been loads of times. This should be easy."

Quickly-or as quickly as you can go when you're half-asleep- the kids of Sector V ran to the MOSQUITTOH. This idea was soon abandoned, though- due to the fact that Numbuh 2 fell asleep halfway there. They decided to just walk to the little kid's house- and they would take turns carrying Numbuh 2.

Soon, they got to the house down the street. They burst into the little kid's room-just as the Delightfuls-all in monster costumes- were looming over the little kid, preparing to howl and scare her.

"So, the old monsters in the closet gag," Numbuh 4 said. "Man, you're getting more unoriginal by the day."

"Huh?" The DCFDTL turned to face Sector V. "Oh, it's you again. No matter. We _delight_ in kicking your butt."

With a shudder, Numbuh 2 woke up. "At 4 in the morning?" he groaned.

"Well," the DCFDTL began to say, but then thought better of it. "Let's just win this battle and get it over with, so we can continue our sleep."

"Whatever," Numbuh 1 said. "Kids Next Door, BATTLE STATIONS!!!"

And so the battle began.

A battle that neither side of the dispute would ever forget.

---

As I said, the battle began. Numbuh 5 jumped onto the little kid's bedpost and fired a ray gun. But the DCFDTL simply dodged it, leaving a huge hole in the wall. "Thank you," they said, before escaping.

"After them!" Numbuh 2 said, and the crew leaped out the hole and ran after their foes. Soon afterwards, the little kid woke up. "What'd I miss?"

Anyway, the next few minutes of the battle were kind of…boring. There was lots of running, lots of 2x4 tech, and lots of 'Darn'. But those parts aren't important. What is important is the end. The memorable part. The part that would haunt all of Sector V's dreams for the next few days to come.

Anyway, again, the battle had migrated towards Father's mansion, a huge, towering, castle-like place, with weapons all around. The DCFDTL knew they were safe on this ground. If only the KND knew when to give up.

The two groups had been standing there for quite a while. Numbuh 3 had fallen asleep onto Numbuh 4's shoulder (sorry, I just had to put that there), and the other four looked as though they were about to nod off themselves. "So?" Numbuh 4 said. "Do something! Is this a battle or a starin' contest?"

"Good question," the DCFDTL said, in all their creepy glory. "But we rest assure you, we can win both." But just before either side could make a move… _it happened._

---

What could have happened next to replace these events, we'll never know. The Delightfuls could have won, the KND could have. But the truth is the truth, and we cannot replace the horrific events of that night. This is the part. The important part. The part that would change both sides' lives forever. So I'll stop you guys from hanging on and just tell you.

So, just before either side could make a move, a change seemed to come over the face of one of the Delightful Children- the blonde girl, with the bow in her hair. At first it was just a twitch. But the twitch turned into vibrating, and the vibrating turned into shaking. Before long, she collapsed, panting hard.

Carefully, Sector V walked over. "Uhh…" Numbuh 5 said, "Do you think she's-"

But before Numbuh 5 could finish, the girl began talking – alone – in a small voice. "Kids….Next….Door….Kids….N-n-next…"

Unpredictably, the girl leaped up. She lunged for Numbuh 1, grabbed his shirt, and started screaming in his face. "KIDS NEXT DOOR!!!" she shouted. "PLEASE!!! YOU GOTTA HELP US!! YOU MUST HELP US!!! PLE-HE-HE-HEASE!!!"

"Ehh…huh?" Numbuh 1 said. He was still a bit shocked. The Delightfuls were asking them to help them? Then he noticed something about this Delightful's eyes. Instead of the normal blue, her eyes were as black as his.

"PLEASE! YOU HAVE TO LISTEN TO ME!! This may seem weird, but just TRUST ME!! LISTEN-I…I.." She began twitching violently.

"Yes?"

"I-you-Father-he-must-stop-oh, no, oh no…your dream! You have to….to…." She stopped there. She let go of Numbuh 1, and walked back into her formation. Her eyes were blue again.

All of the KND were wide awake now. "Uhh…" they all said together.

"Huh?" the DCFDTL said. "Oh." They smiled evilly. "Please don't mind Amber. She seems to be having…freak-outs lately. Nothing you care about." They looked around. "It is time for us to…go. Au revoir, Kids Next Door." With that, they disappeared into the mansion.

Sector V walked back to the treehouse, talking excitedly. "Man, that was weird," Numbuh 5 said. "What was she doing to you?"

"I don't know. But I'm sure it was a desperate act. Something about her eyes…" Numbuh 1 shook the thought away. "Ah well. We'll ponder it tomorrow."

"Uhh…Numbuh 1?"

"Yes?"

"It…is tomorrow."

"Oh. In that case, we'll ponder it right now."

---

Meanwhile, in the mansion of Father, not a thought seemed to be stirring- except for one.

"Oh, God…what was I thinking? What have I done?"

-cut to commercial-

Byee!- SP


	3. Weeks Gone By

Hi! Here's Chapter 2! Oh, and please review.

Chapter 2: Weeks Gone By

Amber stared at the ground. She couldn't help it. There wasn't much else to stare at. Besides, she was seething. Why had she done that? Why had she resisted-in front of the Kids Next Door? It was Father's rule.

"Never reveal the truth," she mocked in her mind. "Never disobey me. Never blah blah blah. Too much never, too little ever." She wished that she could mock out loud. Then her brothers and sister would laugh like nutballs, and… Father would catch them, and… _punish them._ If possible, Father's punishments were worse than his orders, which were pretty much punishments in themselves.

Amber tried to smile- or at least she did mentally, her true self remained expressionless. It was all part of Father's punishments. Whenever she or her siblings were bad, Father would-would- She didn't want to think about it. Ever. Besides, today was the last day of punishment. She should be happy out of her mind!

She turned to her siblings, expecting a glimmer of hope. In her 'punished' state, she could read their minds. Sort of. She could feel emotions most of all.

Her twin brother, Daniel, although his expression was blank, was emanating contentedness. Her little sister, Leona, was also happy-then again; she was always in her own little world. Her older brothers, Lenny and Michael, were entirely different. Michael was slightly happy, but he had feelings of anger and fear. Amber ignored this-they were always there. Lenny, however, had trained himself to wall up his mind, so that Amber couldn't get in.

Finally, she and her siblings reached their destination- their room. (They got lost a lot in Father's huge mansion.) Daniel opened and shut the door wordlessly.

Finally, after two weeks of confinement, Amber felt an unearthly presence leave her. Her eyes tingled, and she could fully feel everything around her. She felt like screaming with joy, but that would probably mean punishment. And that was the last thing she wanted right now.

Her siblings were nearby, groaning and rubbing their heads. For some reason, Amber seemed to recover the fastest. She flopped onto her bed, sighing. "Another long night," she said breathlessly.

"Yeah, I know," Michael said. "Now, only the rest of our lives to go." He looked at the ground.

Leona rolled her eyes. "Leave it to super-pessimist Mike to ruin a great time," she said, sitting down next to Amber- or rather, bouncing. "What is his crazy problem anyway?"

Amber didn't answer that. She just changed the subject. "So…it's past our bedtimes…we really should, you know…go to bed…"

So she went into the bathroom and changed into her PJs. She kept her bow in though. It was the last thing her mother had given her before she left, and her most prized possession. She wore it almost all the time. Like a good little girl, she brushed her teeth, err…went, washed her hands, and then came out so that Leona could go in.

With her mind at ease, she jumped onto her bed-again. _At least tomorrow is Saturday,_ she thought. Then another sudden thought began disturbing her: _What happened back there? I guess I just sort of lost control. I HATE PUNISHMENT!!!! _

She blinked and turned over. She began thinking about the Kids Next Door- her classmates, her enemies, and her almost-saviors seven years ago. Amber's local sector-Sector V- was on her mind right now.

_Hmmm…Numbuh 5 looks kind of familiar. Well, of course, _(she would've thought 'duh', but she didn't know that word), _I see her every day! But something about her… And Numbuh 4 is really cute… Numbuh 3 kind of reminds me of Leona…always in a state of bliss… Numbuh 2 is kind of weird and his jokes stink like Lunk's room. And Numbuh 1… he's really cool, even though he's bald. That accent…_

_Well, now that the KND know, we'll never have a moment's peace. Father is going to know that it's our fault, and, oh, I smell a long punishment. _Amber brooded for a long time…then an inspiration burst on her!

"Psst…Michael," Amber whispered to her sleeping older brother in the next bed over. "Michael. MIKEY!!"

"Zzz…Wha?" Michael looked up slowly. He hated being called Mikey (Mike was okay though).

"Listen- I've got an idea. One that might change our lives for the better- or worse. I'll tell everyone tomorrow. Okay?"

"Mmmwhatever." Michael went back to sleep. Amber did the same. She hoped that her idea would work. Either that, or it could kill them all…

Bye! -SP


	4. Morning

Hi! Next Chapter! It kind of sucks...

Chapter 3: Morning

"Riiing! Riiing!"

Abby hit the 'snooze' button on her alarm clock. It was 7:00, Saturday morning. She wanted to get another hour of sleep in, but she just couldn't. The events of last night were still fresh in her mind.

She started to think. _Okay-what happened? Everything was_ _okay, then that girl- Arber, right?- caught the mondo-wierdos and babbled nonsense! She was telling us to help her…so weird… Numbuh 1 said that something was wrong with her eyes when she said that._

However, she couldn't think any longer. Somebody was banging on her door-the last person she wanted to see right now.

"Hey!" Cree said. "Wake up, loser! It's breakfast time!"

"For your information, sister, I am awake!" Abby shouted. "I'll be down in a sec. In the meantime, don't take my seat on the couch!"

"Why would I want to? I'm too mature to watch Saturday morning cartoons!"

"Mature? Then why did I see you picking your nose yesterday? Is it all a part of your 'maturity'?"

"Grr…why, you-" Cree didn't finish. She stomped away. When Abby was sure that she was gone, she got ready for the day- changed into her extra-long blue and white striped shirt, combed and braided her hair, and put on her huge red baseball hat.

"Girls!" Mr. Lincoln called from downstairs. " Pancakes are ready! What with the butter and the syrup and the griddles and the- oh you know what I'm talking about!" He made a weird noise.

"Pancakes? I better get down there before Cree eats em all!" She ran to she stairs, slid down the banister, and into the kitchen. As she expected, Cree was wolfing down the pancakes. Her father was, thankfully, making more.

Abby smiled. Her family was a bit crazy. She was in the Kids Next Door, her sister was evil and her father was a Bill Cosby clone. She grabbed a stack of pancakes, jumped onto the old, lumpy couch, and turned on the TV.

Just then, her KND Comuthingy rang. "Yeah?"

"Numbuh Five!" Numbuh 1's voice said. "I hate to call you in on a weekend, but we need to investigate last night's scenario further. We'll meet you at Lime Ricky's at 10. Got it?"

"Over and out, chief."

---

Meanwhile, down the street, the Delightful Children from Down the Lane were having a slightly different morning.

Amber rushed down the hallway. _Okay-w-where was the dining hall again? _She thought frantically. She rushed through the halls of her giant mansion, opening doors frantically, hoping that one of them was the dining hall. If she was late for breakfast, it meant punishment. And she only had two minutes.

_Oh no, oh no…_ Just as the clock struck 9, she burst open a pair of doors. Father was waiting, along with her siblings. "Well…" Father said, "Better late than never, I suppose. Well, what are you waiting for? SIT DOWN!"

Amber groaned. Every morning was like this. She sat down next to Lenny and looked at her breakfast. Ham and scrambled eggs. Just like every morning.

She looked at her siblings. Daniel was sculpting his eggs into a little volcano out of boredom, and Michael was trying to squash it, lest Father see it. The _squelch _of eggs was the only noise. It was always this tense after punishment. One time, Daniel had jumped up and said, "BOOOOO-RIIIIING!" in order to break the silence. Oh sure, that had caused their punishment in the first place, but it was worth it.

That was just like Daniel- adventurous and fearless. All of her siblings were different. Michael was broody and easily angered. Lenny was secretive, intelligent, and mysterious. Leona was happy-go-lucky, hyper, and spoke whatever came to her head.

And Amber? She didn't really have a distinct personality. She was like a combination of the four. Her emotions were powerful, however. She didn't know how else to describe herself.

Father was a different story. He was mean, demanding, and, well, mean. He was the one who forced the five to attack the Kids Next Door. Like her siblings, Amber hated Father.

Half an hour later, breakfast was done. The Delightfuls were excused, and Father went to do "Super important villany stuff." The sibs had been instructed to stay in their room until lunch, which was in 2 ½ hours. Once again, Amber was faced with lots of time-and nothing to do with it. Then she remembered the plan she had devised last night. "Umm…everyone?"

"Wha…"

"I have an idea about what we can do."

"Really?"

"Well, it'll be kind of sketchy, but here's what we have to do…" She explained her idea.

All of her sibs groaned. "Please, Amber, not another one of your crazy escape plans!" Lenny said.

"Yeah," Michael said. "Remember last time?"

Yes, Amber knew all about _last time_. The plan? Take out a super-destructive machine, ditch it a few miles from town, and run for it. Unfortunately, Father caught Daniel trying to disarm the machine's locator, and they got a week's punishment, along with the added bonus of Father not trusting them with anything- even butter knives- outside of punishment.

That was over a month ago. But Amber's spirits weren't dampened. She was serious about this one.

"But I'm serious about this one!" she said. "It will work! Cross my heart and hope to die!"

Michael grabbed her shoulder. "Well, okay. But this is the craziest one yet, Am. One little resistance probably didn't convince them."

"Oh, it will." _I hope…_

Bye- SP


	5. Plans in Action

Here's the next chapter. And thank you MILLIONS for reviewing!

Numbah Wierdo: Thank you! It is kind of sad...and it only gets sadder. At least I think it does.

dark hallway: Thanks!

Disclaimer: I don't own Kids Next Door, AYB, Blockbuster, Green Day, or Simple Plan.

Chapter 4: Plans in Action

_Lime Ricky's_

_10 am_

"Hey, Sector V! Four root beers and a lemonade, right?"

"Not today, Rick. We're here to discuss a recent case." Numbuh 1 paused. "On second thought, okay." So, Ricky filled out the order, and the conference began.

"So…" Numbuh 2 said, "Did anybody really have a firm grip on what happened last night?"

"Lesse," Numbuh 4 said. "I woke up to the sound of that crudridden alarm…"

"No, after that!"

"Ah, yeah. So, we were fighting the Delightful Dorks, and one of them went to Wierdosville and talked about all this…stuff."

Numbuh 1 took a swig of root beer. "She said something about needing our help… why would the Delightfuls want our help?"

"Because…they're nuts?" Numbuh 5 said.

"Well, we already know that! Like I said last night, there was something weird with her eyes when she went cuckoo," Numbuh 1 said. "They were sort of… the wrong color."

"Weird."

They sat in silence for a long time.

"Y'know, what if she had said 'All your base are belong to us'?" Numbuh 3 said. "Then they'd really be crazy."

That started a discussion about AYB, which distracted them from the main topic. That lasted awhile- allowing another plan to take effect.

---

_3 hours later_

"Swiss Army Knife?"

"Check."

"Backpack?"

"Check."

"Paper clips?"

"Check."

"Giant rusty anchor?"

"Huh?" Amber gave Daniel a funny look.

"Just kidding. So, all set?"

"I think I've got everything." Amber, Lenny, Michael, Leona, and Daniel were preparing for Amber's big 'plan'. For the first part, somebody had to infiltrate the Sector V treehouse. What she would do after that? It all depended on timing. Since Amber made up the plan, she would break in. She had everything she needed to break Treehouse Security, and some stuff she didn't need but brought anyway.

"Okay," Lenny said. "Now, all you have to do is run down the street to the treehouse and somehow get inside. If you don't get killed, do whatever you have to do. You only have 1…2…5 hours until dinner, so every second counts. Ready?"

"Of course. See you later! I have business to attend to-next door." She walked to the window, and climbed out on a rope made of bedsheets. Before they vanished from view, Amber looked at her siblings. _This could be the last time I see them…_ She shook the thought away, and finished her climb down the face of the mansion.

"Bye, Amber!" Leona said. "Bring us something nice!"

"I will. That's a promise!"

---

Amber ran down the street, every step bringing her closer to her goal. She had never left the mansion outside of punishment, and the world around her was a bit overwhelming. Oh sure, she could see while in punishment, but she had never had the freedom to go where she wanted.

She slowed to a walk. She was sorely tempted to go to many of the interesting places she saw- the ice-cream parlor, the arcade, the Blockbuster- but resisted the temptation. She barely knew what any of the places were, anyway.

But one thing she saw a lot of was: kids. Kids about her age, hanging out, running around, and laughing, without a single care. None of them noticed her. She wanted to be that carefree, but that would have to wait. Now, she had a treehouse to break into.

She found the treehouse easily- it was the most conspicuous thing on the block. It had to be at least thirty stories high.

Like all kids, Amber had a natural-born tree-climbing instinct (even though Father had tried to stomp it out of her). So it was no problem getting to the front deck of the treehouse. But that was the easy part. The next part was much more difficult-getting in. The door was right there, but Amber knew that there could be a state-of-the-art security system behind its innocence. She needed to step carefully.

Problem was, she didn't know how advanced it was. The second she opened the door, an alarm sounded.

"Intruder alert! Intruder alert!"

"Oh no oh no oh NO!" Amber screamed-to nobody in particular. She started to back out the door, but an iron wall blocked it. Immediately, the security system came to life…

---

"No, I'm telling you! Green Day is MUCH better than Simple Plan! I-" Numbuh 5 was interrupted by a loud beeping.

"Intruder alert!" Numbuh 1 shouted. "Back to the treehouse-NOW!"

Bye! -SP


	6. Meeting

Hi! Next chappie is underway! 

Velvet Panther: Yep... And what happened to her will be revealed, but the details'll be pretty vague.

Chapter 5: Meeting

Amber raced through the long hallway, dodging traps like crazy. Missiles, giant SPLANKERs, giant steel doors (just to name a few)- you name it, they had it.

She tried throwing what she had at the traps- using the SA Knife to open locked doors and stuff like that. After two hallways of this, she was faced with...Sector V's private army.

Of hamsters.

"My goodness, this is pathetic," she said. Unfortunately, the hamsters heard her. They swarmed her, poking her with teeny-weeny weapons, and biting in…certain spots. It was actually more painful than annoying, and it was plenty annoying.

But, like any good breaker-inner, Amber was prepared. She sifted through her backpack until she found what she was looking for- Hamster-Nip. "Here, hamsters, get your, um…nip!" She threw it in the opposite direction.

Of course, no hamster can resist Hamster-Nip. They were off of her in a heartbeat. With that over with, Amber raced on, hoping that that was it…

---

"So, what's the danger rating on this one?" Numbuh 1 said.

"I dunno…" Numbuh 2 said, panicked. "The DNA signal is garbled. But she just made it past the hamsters."

Numbuh 3 gasped. "She didn't hurt any, did she?"

"No. Oh, crap, she used Hamster-Nip!"

"Hamster-Nip? That's the most effective tool for hamsters anyone can get! I don't know who did this, but we better get there quick. If she's got Hamster-Nip, Numbuh 5 doesn't know what else she could have!" They approached the treehouse…

---

Amber ran through another booby-trapped hallway. And another. And another. And another. And- then they stopped.

Her jaw dropped. She was in the middle of the Kids Next Door common room. Her mission had succeeded!

Now, there was just one more thing to do. She reached into her back pack and pulled out a note. She decided to read it over one last time, just to make sure that it made sense.

_Dear Kids Next Door, Numbers 1-5 of Sector V:_

_I don't wish to disturb you, but this is urgent. There is a big emergency that needs immediate attention, concerning the mental freedom of many children. We need your help. For more information, please meet me at the back of the school at 10:00 tonight. _

_Thank you for your concern,_

The signature was blurred and hard to read. Just like it should be.

Amber was about to place the letter in front of the main computer, when the screen lit up. "Requesting password," it said.

"Oh no oh no oh NO! How do I turn this thing off?!" Amber began pushing random buttons…

---

Meanwhile, Sector V stood cramped in the small elevator. "What's she doing now?" Numbuh 1 asked.

"She's goofing with the mainframe!" Numbuh 2 said. "Doesn't she know that that's not a toy?!?!"

There was a _ding,_ and Numbuhs 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 stepped out of the elevator- in full view of Amber.

Both sides looked at each other for a moment. Then, Amber broke the silence. "Ehh…hi?

"Hey- It's one of those Delightful Dorks!" Numbuh 1 said.

"Which one?" Numbuh 3 said.

"Don't you recognize her? It's the crazy one!Get her!" In a flash, Sector V pulled out a full arsenal of 2x4 weapons. Numbuh 4 fired his, and everything went black…

---

WhenAmber awoke,her vision was clouded. She blinked once, and her eyes focused. She tried to move, but she couldn't. She looked around. She seemed to be tied face-down to a giant board-thing, with a mask-thing over her face. Her backpack was two feet away, on a table. Before she could even think about escaping, she heard a British-accented voice.

"Talk." The mask was whipped off her face. She could now see clearer. Four operatives were holding SPLANKERs to her head and back, while a fifth was pacing. He held the mask in his hand. It was Numbuh 1.

"I said, TALK!" Amber felt a sharp pain in her butt. One of the operatives had struck her with his SPLANKER.

"What am I supposed to say?" she retorted.

"Over the past 24 hours, you have been the subject of many strange behaviors. First, you go all whackadoodle, asking us to help you- WHICH WE WON'T EVER DO-" The operative struck again. "And now you break into the Treehouse! Why are you doing this?"

Amber thought hard. She couldn't really explain why. It was complicated. So she said the first thing that came to her head: "If I told you, you wouldn't believe me."

And in a way, she was right. Two operatives struck her butt this time. "Nice try," Numbuh 1 said. "What are your intentions?"

"If I told you, you wouldn't believe me."

More butt pain. "What is the meaning of this note?" He held up the letter that Amber had planned to leave.

"If I told you, you wouldn't believe me."

More butt pain. "Why didn't our DNA rays recognize your genetic structure?"

"If I told- well, actually, I don't know."

Even more butt pain. "And… why are you so loony?"

Amber gave him a funny look. _If only he knew... _she thought."Uhh...If I told you, you-"

The SPLANKERs were now slapping like crazy. "Yeah, yeah, we know," Numbuh 4 said. "Now, spit it out, or we'll SPLANK you so bad that you won't be able to sit down for a year! Y'hear me? A YEAR!!!"

This made her give in. "Fine," she said. "Anyway..."

Wow, one heck of a cliffhanger. Bye! -SP


	7. Amber's Story

Hi! Here's the nextchapter.

dark hallway: Thanks!

BoxieRoxie: Heh, thanks.

---

Disclaimer: I don't own KND.

---

Chapter 6: Amber's Story

"I guess I'll have to start from the beginning. I'm warning you, this will bore you." Amber looked the five operatives in the eyes.

She hung her head, and began explaining. "I don't even remember when it first happened. My brother told me. He's the only one who does remember."

"Until I was two, I guess my life was normal. Then, everything changed. Father began acting very-strange. He'd disappear into the basement and not come back for hours. He'd have long talks with our mother, which often ended in shouting. He'd perform some weird tests on us. This went on for a year."

"Then, the day before it happened, Father and mother had a big fight. My brother doesn't entirely remember what happened, but what he does know is that our mother left that day, and never came back."

"The next day, Father put us on this table, tied us there, and told us to wait. A few hours later, the room was filled with all these weird adults-and some kids. They were the Kids Next Door, which I think is the same organization as this, right?"

"Uh…yes?" Numbuh 5 said.

"They were shouting at Father, telling him to stop. But he didn't listen. Then- all this scary stuff happened. There was a flash, and everything went black."

"When I woke up, I felt weird. My body was doing things that I didn't will it to do, and it was completely ignoring what I did will it. It was strange."

"I was only three, so I had no clue what was going on. But my brother knew- Father had Delightfulized us. I still don't know what that means, though."

"It means that you were hypnotized to give in to adults, behave properly, and wear dorky clothing day and night," Numbuh 4 said. Numbuh 2 slapped him. "Don't interrupt her! This is getting good. So…than what happened?" He was munching on popcorn.

"It went on like that for four straight years. I remember that the Kids Next Door came back every week, trying to free us. There was always one operative that kept coming back- even alone. I don't know her name, but she had dark skin, wild hair, and a determined will. She kept coming back until about two years ago."

"She was probably decommissioned," Numbuh 1 said.

_Cree? _Numbuh 5 thought.

"Then, four years after that Delightfulization, my brother- Michael- began acting weird. He De-Delightfulized us- somehow- and told us what was going on. He said that we had to stop Father from doing this to anyone else. We all agreed."

"The fight was long. Father didn't want us to find out about our Delightfulized states. But in the end, we made a compromise. Father would only Delightfulize us when we were bad. Otherwise, we were free. That was pretty good-for a while." All five operatives were fighting over the popcorn now.

Amber took a deep breath. "Father thinks that pretty much everything we do is bad. One of my brothers picked his nose, and we were all Delightfulized for two days. My sister fell asleep during dinner, and we got six days. Another of my brothers shouted 'BOOOOOOOOOOO-RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!' in the middle of breakfast, and we got two weeks. And every time that we are Delightfulized, we are forced to attack you."

"Wow, that's harsh!" Numbuh 3 said.

"That's why I acted weird last night. I couldn't take it anymore. I had to ask for help. But I could only resist for a little while. I couldn't get the whole message out."

"I came here because I hate the situation that my siblings and I are in. We want to be free, and do whatever it is that kids do. I was going to leave that note, and tell you this story without revealing who I was."

"I was hoping that I could meet the Kids Next Door- not as enemies, but as friends. I hoped that we could kick Father's smelly butt, so that no other child could be Delightfulized any longer." Amber closed her eyes. It felt good to tell someone.

"I'm done," she said. "You can say that that was the most ridiculous story that you have ever heard now. I can take it." She was serious.

Numbuh 1 looked at her. He couldn't tell whether she was lying or not, but he knew that if she was, it was probably a trap. But if she wasn't lying, there were many kids out there, in danger of Delightfulization. He thought long and hard.

"Untie her," he finally said. Numbuh 5 untied her.

"Stand up." Amber stood up.

"So…do you trust me?" Her voice had a catch in it, as if she were holding back tears.

Numbuh 1 stepped closer to her. "I don't trust you, but I don't _not _trust you either. I can't prove you wrong or right."

He put a hand on her shoulder. "We'll just assume that you are telling the truth until we get significant proof that you are wrong." He smiled.

"But…she's a cruddy Delightful Child!" Numbuh 4 said. "Isn't that proof enough?"

"Yeah!" Numbuh 2 said. "She and her siblings have tried to kick our butts countless times! Why should we trust her?"

Numbuh 1 looked 2 in the face. "Because I said so," he said. "But don't worry. If she betrays us, she'll be beaten to a pulp."

"Can I do it?"

"Of course, Numbuh 4."

He turned back to Amber. "Hey, Delightful!"

"Yes?"

"How would you like to…umm…. hang out with us for the rest of the afternoon?"

Amber was shocked. "Uhh…okay. And my name is Amber." She smiled.

---

Bye! -SP


	8. Discovering the World

Hi! Here's Chapter 7!

Velvet Panther: Actually, Amb's brother can remeber, but none of the others can for some reason.

Disclaimer: I don't own KND, 'Fly' by Hilary Duff (the 'Sample Song') or any Mp3 companies.

I do, however, own an Mp3. A very small one. Only holds 120 songs at most.

Chapter 7: Discovering the Real World (and mp3s!)

"Wow."

"Will you puh-leeze stop saying that?" Numbuh 4 said. "You're giving me a headache."

Let's rewind a little bit. Before Amber could be out in the open, Sector V had decided that she needed to blend in. Of course, a sailor suit really stands out, so the fivesome tried to make her a little more 'invisible'.

Here was the result- Numbuhs 3 and 5 had put together a red shirt, jeans, and some sneakers- just casual stuff. Amber was a bit surprised, but agreed to try them on. However, she wouldn't let the two girls get rid of her bow.

"It's dorky," Numbuh 5 had said.

"I don't care."

"Okay, but Numbuh 5 is telling you, it's dorky!"

This brings us back to where we were. Sector V was showing Amber around Cleveland, and she was stunned. She found it hard to believe that she had lived in this city all her life.

"So…" Numbuh 1 said, "where do you want to go first?"

Amber shrugged. "I don't even know what half of these places are." She closed her eyes and randomly pointed at a store. "That one!"

The store was 'Music N Stuffs'. "Well, okay. But you have to be careful in there. There's lots of subliminally evil stuff in there."

* * *

"What's this?"

"It's an Mp3. It plays music." They were in the music store. Amber was a bit confused- she had headed for the symphony section (which she had listened to all her life) but Sector V dragged her away from it ("That's the junk we warned you about") and to a section that was unfamiliar to her. The section was selling Mp3s, and there was one that you could try right there.

"Now _this _stuff is cool," Numbuh 4 said.

"Yeah," Numbuh 5 said. "Numbuh 5 thinks that you'll like this!"

Amber picked up the Mp3, and turned it on. Its little screen flashed blue, and a song name appeared. It was titled 'Sample Song'.

"How do I turn the music on?" she questioned.

"Press the little button with the arrow on it, and put the earphones on your head," Numbuh 2 said. She did, and the music started.

(song lyrics were here)

It was a sort of Rock/Pop thing. Amber was taken by surprise. "This is…music?" She paused, then leaped up. "I LOVE IT!"

"We knew you would." Numbuh 1 smiled.

(song lyrics were here)

* * *

The next 3 hours were happy ones for Amber. She had discovered freedom, and it was awesome.

She loved the mp3 so much, she bought it (with a credit card- Father had loaned it to her for villainous reasons, and she never gave it back). And as if that weren't enough, Numbuh 5 told Amber that she could download songs off the Internet, put them on the player, and listen to them whenever she wanted. Of course, then she had to explain what the Internet was. That took a while.

There were many other places- the ice cream parlor, the movie store, the arcade- and Amber loved them all. Of course, at the end of the day, the Mp3 was still her favorite.

But before she knew it, it was 5:00. She changed back into her own stuff, and got ready to leave. "Thank you," she said. "I can't believe that you'd trust me."

"Well, you said that there were missions to rescue you and your siblings," Numbuh 1 said. "We'll have to go up to Moonbase and access mission files. Until then, we're a bit uneasy. We'll have the results soon. Until then, just wait."

"Okay. Bye." Amber walked out of the treehouse and raced home. She couldn't wait to tell her siblings what she had seen.

Bye! -SP


	9. That Evening

Hi! Again, 'screw it' to the hiatus, I'm updating!

-

Velvet Panther: Y'know, I never thought of that song, good idea! And I know that a lot of people think that Hil is bad...I only care for her music.

Meowth's Toon Dragon: Thanks.

Ginny-Hates-Them: Wow, thanks-blush-

-

Disclaimer: I don't own KND.

-

Chapter 8: That Evening

_Delightful Mansion_

_5:10 pm_

"Got any threes?"

"Nah, go fish." The other four Delightfuls were playing a card game when Amber climbed through the window. Or jumped, more accurately.

"I'm back!" She shouted happily.

Michael looked at her. "Well, you're unharmed. Did you deliver the message?"

"You could say that. They burst in on me, and I told them everything. And that's not even the best part- look at THIS!" She held up the Mp3 player. "It plays music." Leona grabbed it and began examining it. "Where does the record go?" she said.

"So…they trust you?" Lenny said.

"I'm not sure. They said that they'd have to find proof that I wasn't lying. That may take a while." She smiled. "Until then- got any kings?" She took seven cards from the pile.

Amber sighed. It felt good knowing that her plan was working. If all went well, she'd be free of her boogerhead of a Father forever. If all didn't go well… She didn't want to think about that now. Now, all she wanted to be focused on was deciding if Daniel had any fours.

-

_Lincoln Household_

_Two hours later_

Abby walked into her house. Cree was sleeping, and her father was somewhere else. She didn't care, though. She needed to think about some things.

She sat on the couch. This was hard, due to the fact that Cree was occupying most of it. She was snoring loudly, and there was drool on the side of her mouth. _Is this what I'll be like as a teenager? _Abby thought with disgust. _Okay,_ _enough thinking about that. I have to start thinking about how to save that Delightful girl! Man, those are four words I never thought I'd think. Wait, that makes no sense…_

She slipped onto the floor and looked at the ceiling. _Okay…there was one thing about what that girl said that kind of got me. She said that there was one agent who kept coming back. Her description seems to match Cree, but I can't imagine her doing anything heroic like that! I can't even imagine how she even became Head of Operations way back when. Man, this really brings back memories…_

Abby remembered back to her KND initiation…

-

"Greetings, fellow operatives! I, Numbuh 11, Head of Kids Next Door Global Command-"

A crowd of kids were in a large room on KND Moonbase. Standing on a large podium was Abby's sister, Numbuh 11 herself. Near her was a younger-looking Numbuh 274. He had to be at least eleven at that point. Numbuh 11 looked to be about twelve.

"- have gathered you here today to induct the newest graduating class of KND cadets into the Super Incredibly Giant Computermabob, thus making them Kids Next Door operatives!" Cheers erupted from the seated kids.

"This class contains many cadets, with many special abilities. Okay, let's start the ceremonies with my own little sister- Abby Lincoln!"

A little girl with a hat that pretty much hid her head blushed. "Me?" She looked pretty small compared with all the other operatives. "Okay…" Smaller versions of Nigel, Hoagie, Kuki, Wally, Numbuh 86 and Numbuh 362 cheered her on as she stepped onto the podium.

"Hi, cadet! Do you swear to fight adult tyranny without fail, without giving up, and without rest, except for cookie breaks?"

"Can I have milk with the cookies?"

"Yeah, sure, so long as it's chocolate milk."

"Okay, I swear!"

"Good! You may now place your DNA into the Code Module."

Abby knew what to do now. She stuck her finger into her nose, and pulled out a booger. "I choose the codename- Numbuh 5!" She stuck her booger into he Code Module, and it was uploaded.

"Welcome into the Kids Next Door, little sis- I mean, Numbuh 5! You will be stationed in Sector V. Congratulations! Wallabee Beatles, you're next!" Numbuh 11 hugged Numbuh 5. "Good job, sis. I knew you could do it."

"Do we all get hugs?" Kuki said.

"Uhh…no," Numbuh 11 said. Everyone laughed…

-

Abby was shaken out of her thoughts by Cree's waking up. "Wha- hey! What are you doing here, embryo? I was here first!"

"Ah, whatever. I was just getting up anyway."

Byuu-SP


	10. Morning to Moonbase

Hi! Here's the next chappie! Wow, 10 already.

-

almostinsane:I will!

Ginny-Hates-Them: I guess that's how Cree thinks of Abby-very, very tiny.

-

Chapter 9: Morning to Moonbase

_The KND Treehouse_

_11 am, Sunday morning_

"Batteries to power…"

Sector V was sitting in the MOSQUITTO, waiting for their long trip to the moon. Numbuh 2 was warming up the engines, Numbuh 1 was fiddling with the radio stations, Numbuh 3 was deciding, at the top of her lungs, whether to take her Moon Madness Rainbow Monkey or her Perfect Vacation Rainbow Monkey, Numbuh 4 was covering his ears, and Numbuh 5 was waiting for the long trip to be over.

"Turbines to speed…" Numbuh 1 said, taking his mind off the radio and getting back in his chair. "Aaaaand...LIFTOFF!"

The MOSQUITTO rocketed upward. Soon, the Treehouse became just a small speck, as they broke free of Earth's gravity pull. Several minutes later, the orange-ish 'branches' of the KND Moonbase 'Treehouse' came into view.

"Calling Moonbase, this is Sector V, requesting permission to land," Numbuh 2 said.

"Calling Sector V, this is Numbuh 38. Permission granted." The docking bay opened up, and the MOSQUITTO flew in and landed.

Sector V clamored out of their ship, and looked around. The Moonbase was as amazing as always- hundreds of kids working nonstop to keep it running, several machines zooming around, and, of course, the ultra-cool sliding doors. But right now, the amazing-y-ness wasn't on their minds. What was? Their mission- find the file, prove Amber innocent, save the Delightfuls. That last statement just didn't sound right. But there was only one question…

"Excuse me, Numbuh 409?" Numbuh 1 said, talking to a Hispanic kid with large eyes. "Where are the mission files kept?"

"Fifty-fifth door to the left," he said, without taking his eyes off of the _Nintendo Power_ magazine he was reading. "Ask for Numbuh 165."

"Whatever." They started down the hall. About half an hour later, they came to a door marked 'Record Room'. It slid open, and Sector V went in.

The Record Room was dark. Very dark. There was a bare lightbulb hanging over a large computer, and dim lighting just bright enough so that you could barely see the titles on the cabinets, but that was it. Hundreds of file cabinets and shelves stretched from wall to wall, each containing files on villans, missions, sectors, Numbuhs, and pretty much anything else, all on CD.

"The record room," Numbuh 2 said. "I don't think I've ever been in here."

Numbuh 4 looked around. "Is this another one of those 'library' things?"

"Yes," Numbuh 1 said. "We have to find the files on all missions concerning Father, and pick out the one we need."

"I wouldn't do that," Numbuh 5 said.

"Why not?"

"Look." On the far right, there were at least 4 separate cabinets, all with the word 'Father' on them. There was a separate cabinet marked 'Delightful Dorks' right next to it.

"Well then, we should find Numbuh 165 then. OH NUMBUH 165!"

There was no movement for a second, then a small operative- even smaller than Numbuh 4- came out from the shadows. "Are…you talking to me?" he said.

"Are there any more Numbuh 165s around?" Numbuh 3 said.

"Don't think so. Anyway, what do you need to find?"

"Okay, we need to find files of all missions involving Father in the year 1998," Numbuh 1 said. "We'll thumb through them manually."

"Okay, wait a sec." He got a HUGE ladder from the shadows and propped it up against a shelf. He climbed it, and pulled out a CD case. He climbed back down and handed the case to Numbuh 1.

"On this CD, you'll find information on all missions involving Father in 1998. Of course, if you want more, they have directions to the disc with more info."

"Thanks, Numbuh 165," Numbuh 1 said. Numbuh 165 smiled and walked back into the shadows.

Sector V walked up to the large computer. Numbuh 2 inserted the CD into the slot, and the machine booted up. "Accessing files," A computerized voice said. "Keywords: Father, missions, 1998, all. 68 results."

Links to the information were on the screen. They were sorted alphabetically by mission name. "Ah man," Numbuh 2 said, "How are we going to get through all of these names by lunch?"

"We work hard," Numbuh 1 said. "Kids Next Door- research!"

Baioo-SP


	11. Answers

Haioo!

-

almostinsane: Thanks!

Velvet Panther: Okay, okay, okay! Teehee...

Ranma Higurashi: Well, I guess Father had a lot of attacks coming. And, what does FAI mean-SP is not good with abbreviations-

-

Chapter 10: Answers

_Two hours later_

"Okay team, what's our progress?"

"We've got about 20 left to sift through, we're tired, we're hungry, and WHY ARE WE DOING THIS?"

The team was still researching. Their fingers were numb, their eyes were tired, and they desperately wanted to stop. But Numbuh 1 didn't let them. "We're looking until we find something!" And he was always true to his word.

About 5 minutes later, Numbuh 4 found something. "Hey, guys!" he said. "I'm not sure if this is the right mission, but look at it!" So they did. The mission information wasn't opened, but the name-

Sector V took one look at it, and started laughing. "Man, who was the weirdo who named this one?" Numbuh 2 said. "Whoever they are, they _really_ deserve an award!"

"Y-yeah," Numbuh 5 said, trying to hold in a laugh, "But w-we really need to f-f-find the file and w-whatnot…" She clicked the 'Access info' button by the file name, and this came up. Her jaw dropped. (Note: '0' means censored)

"_Operation '0000': Father's Unlawful 000000000 000000000. _

_Date: April 17, 1998_

_Intelligence picked up a rumor that Father- a sworn enemy of children- was creating a machine called a 'Delightfulization Chamber'; capable of hypnotizing a child into doing whatever adults told them. Father was planning a showing of his machine to an adult audience, in order to show its 'usefulness'._

_But that isn't the worst part. Rumors were that Father was using five children-his own, in fact-as test subjects for the chamber. The assignment? Save the children, destroy the machine, and defeat Father._

_However, this wasn't the case. The troops failed to save the children, and though the machine was destroyed, we are 100 percent sure that it was rebuilt. The kids were never identified, and their locations, ages, and whether they escaped or not are unknown._

_Until yesterday, _Numbuh 1 thought.

_Even after the failure, there was still one operative who kept going back-even until her infamous 'not-decommissioning'. Her name was Numbuh 11. She currently works for Father himself._

_References:_

_Row C, cabinet L-CHECKED OUT_

_Row 45, Shelf 14-CHECKED OUT_

_Cabinet 5, Drawer D-ON HOLD_

"Well, that's nice, but shouldn't we be looking for the file?" Numbuh 3 said.

"Numbuh 3, this is the file!" Numbuh1 said. "Oh sure, so theother info is gone, but this is all we need."

"That Amber kid must have been telling the truth," Numbuh 4 said.

"You can hardly call her 'kid'," Numbuh 2 said. "She's about a year older than us."

"Well, we now know that she's innocent. We'll tell her tomorrow. But now- last one to the food court buys the food!"

All of Sector V left-except Numbuh 5. She was a bit mad. The other operatives were treating this like nothing, like Amber was still an evil goody-goody. She needed more information, like how to shut down the machine. Then she thought back to something she had read-

"_Even after the failure, there was still one operative who kept going back-even until her infamous 'not-decommissioning'. Her name was Numbuh 11. She currently works for Father himself."_

Numbuh 5 smiled. _Time for a little information forcing,_ she thought.

Numbuh 3 stuck her head through the door. "Come on, Numbuh 5!" she said.

"Okay, okay, keep your shirt on." She ran out of the record room with a smile on her face.

Ba-bye-SP


	12. Good Nooz

Hi! Here's the next chapter.

* * *

Ranma Higurashi: I like anime, I just don't know what Tsubasa is. Sorry...

Velvet Panther: Well, congrats! And that episode is funny.

Essyllus: Heh, thanks!

Ginny-Hates-Them:Tis' okay. Heh.

midnight972: Thanks.

* * *

Chapter 11: Good Nooz

(This letter is spell checked)

_Amber,_

_We want you here. We have good news. Choose a date that's right for you, and drop your response in locker number 45._

_Sector V._

"Good enough?" Numbuh 4 said.

Numbuh 1 looked at it. "There's no 8 in 'Sector'!"

* * *

_Tomorrow_

_Cleveland Elementary School_

_8 am_

"Riiiiiiiiiiing!"

Five minutes till class. Nigel, Hoagie, Abby, Wally, and Kuki ran into the school. In the hall, about a gazillion students were going in a continuous wave towards the classrooms.

However, one student broke away from the crowd. Abby. She stopped by a large locker marked '73-78', which looked like five lockers stuck together. "This has to be the one," she said to herself. She slipped a thick envelope marked 'Amber (and the rest of you)' into one of the ventilation slot-thingies.

Her watch beeped. "Ah man, gotta go!" She ran to class…

* * *

_Ten minutes later_

"So children, today's lesson is on adjectives…"

English/Spelling. First class of the day for Abby, Wally, and Hoagie. And the Delightful Children.

Hoagie was doodling airplanes in his notebook. Wally was trying to decide whether to stare at the clock (which seemed to be ticking slower and slower) or at Mrs. Thompson, the teacher (who he had an innocent crush on). Abby was just looking around. Out of boredom, she stared at the Delightfuls, who sat two or three seats over. She never really paid special attention to them, but now was different.

Usually, as far as she knew, the Delightful Children always sat at attention, looking straight ahead, only speaking when spoken to, like little goody-goodies. But today, this wasn't the case.

Today, the DCFDTL seemed to be…bored. The tall one was mumbling to himself. Lenny was scratching at the paint on his helmet. The short girl twirled her pigtails. The blonde boy was joining Wally in looking at the clock. And the blonde girl, Amber? She wasn't really doing anything, but she did have a BIG smile on her face.

_I wonder why nobody's noticed that their eyes are a different color, _Abby thought. _Either the whole world's stupid, or they just think that it's colored contacts or something. Which they probably do, they're allowed in this school. Speaking of, I hope that they find the note soon._

Second period. Third. Fourth. With each passing minute, the clock seemed to slow down by about four years. But even the longest period of time goes by e v e n t u a l l y, so four hours later, it was lunchtime.

Nigel, Hoagie, Kuki, Wally, and Abby got a table together. They-like every other kid with sense-brought their own lunch. The Delightfuls were two tables away-alone, of course.

"Now, Numbuh 5," Nigel said, "Was the message delivered?"

"Dropped it in their locker," Abby said. "They should find it."

"Did you remember to put the present in?"

"When don't I?" She opened her lunch. Good, modest peanut butter. Much better than the cafeteria's 'Tuna Surprise'.

Meanwhile, two tables over, Amber curiously opened the letter that Lenny had found in his locker. She read it with wonder. There were many spelling errors, but the message was clear: good news.

She smiled. _So many things are going right, it's scary,_ she thought. _Wait, there's something else in here…_

"I can't believe it!"

She pulled out five pairs of blue contact lenses. Attached to them was a note-

_Just in case._

Amber put her head down, right into her Tuna Surprise. "Now it's scary," she mumbled.

* * *

At the end of the day, Numbuh 1 found a note in his locker in tidy handwriting:

_Today, four o' clock. THANK YOU!_

_All of us._

* * *

Bye-SP 


	13. Revelation

Hello! I am SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO SO sorry for the two month wait! I had writer's block. Serious writer's block. But I've gotten past it, and the story just gets more exciting from here!

Sniffle...I feel so guilty...

Additionally, I have edited chapter...8? due to its use of song lyrics.

* * *

almostinsane: Isn't that what you posted last time? 

Ginny-Hates-Them: Wowzers! It really crawled away?

Ranma Higurashi: Hey, cool!

Numbuh 373: Ooh...I posted that before I knew that. I bet that the DCFDTL's names have even been revealed now. I've been very behind in the world of KND...I even missed the new episode. That's just sad.

dark staranime: Okay!

Velvet Panther: Interesting...very interesting. Well, KND ops are brainwashed the day they turn 13...maybe the adult obedience is a side effect or something.  
And, on a totally unrelated note, I just checked your user lookup. You're a ZIM fan! Right on, dude(ette)!

Purple Ghost Sausage: Okay!

neosun7: Like I said...so guilty...

Chapter 12: Revelation

_Delightful Mansion_

_3 pm_

"Hello, my Delightful Child-" Father began to say, but the Delightfuls rushed by too fast to really hear it.

"HelloFathergoodbyeFather!" Five seconds later, they were in their room. Amber seemed to be on sugar hype.

"Isn't this great? We're getting out! No more Father! No more Father! WEEEEE!" She bounced around.

"Am, not so loud!" Michael said. "Father might hear you!"

"See?" Amber said. "This is just what we want to escape from! Well, what's everybody waiting for? Let's go!"

"No," Lenny said. "If we all go, there'll be nobody to make excuses. Besides, we're not due for another hour, and we have homework to do."

"Oh, darn it!" She reluctantly opened her spelling book and got started.

_Half an hour later_

"Haha! You're mincemeat, Numbuh 3!"

"Not if I have anything to say about it!"

The KND were seated in the main room, doing nothing in particular. Numbuh 4 was playing _Doom in Short Pants IV_ with Numbuh 3, and for some reason always lost. How could he, anyway? Numbuh 3 was just banging on the buttons! _He_ was the master.

Numbuh 1 was checking through the current mission's files to make sure everything was there. Numbuh 2 was hammering something deep in the heart of the treehouse. Numbuh 5 was listening to some kind of rock music full blast, letting the pure noise from the headphones blow her braided ponytail into the wind.

Knowing rock music, Numbuh 5 was cut off from all other noise. But the loud 'somebody is at the door' alarm cut straight through it. She immediately switched the music off and ran to the main computer. She pressed some buttons. "DoorCam initiated," a voice said. A picture appeared on the screen. It was Amber, with a large briefcase, ringing the doorbell to Numbuh 1's house like there was no tomorrow.

"It's her," Numbuh 5 said. Nobody had to guess who she was talking about. They knew.

Meanwhile, as Amber rang the doorbell continuously, the door swung open. "Come in," Numbuh 1 said through a speaker. "Treehouse entrance is third door to the right."

She followed instructions, and came across a long, narrow, upward spiraling boardwalk thingy. Guessing this was the entrance, she walked up. And up. And up. When she FINALLY got to the treehouse's actual door, she was surprised to find it open. She ran in (or ran as fast as she could with her briefcase), and came face to face with all five operatives. "Eh…hi," she said nervously.

"Hello, Amber," Numbuh 1 said, his regular serious tone still present. "We hope that things aren't going too bad."

"I still had to sneak out."

"Well, we guessed that." He lifted his sunglasses. "What's with the briefcase?"

"Oh, this?" She set the case down on a table, crushing Numbuh 4's defenseless game controller ("Hey!"). She opened it, revealing a large button, which she pressed.

At that instant, a large projectory-thingy sprang up from inside the case. It projected something onto the wall-it looked like a computer, connected to a bazillion wires, with what looked like a movie making program opened. Sector V looked upon it with awe.

"Oooh, shimmery," Numbuh 3 said. "What is it?"

"I'm not sure what it's called," Amber said, "But I do know what it does."

"Which is?"

"It sends out hypersonic waves to a designated person in the subcounsious, controlling what they see at the time."

"Okay..." Numbuh 4 said, "And in English that means...?"

"I'm not sure," she siad. "That's what was in the manual.But I tried it, and I know what it does. It designates what a certain person or animal dreams. I'm not too sure what Father was-or _is_- going to do with it, but it was in the basement with all his other...oh, how do you say it..._cool_ things. A few days ago, I found it and sent a dream of my first Delightfulization to a random person, hoping they could help. They never came."

Numbuh 1 began sweating, and knocked his knuckles together. "I-it was me," he stammered. "I had it the night before the first resistance."

Everyone's eyes snapped over to him. "You mean you KNEW!" Numbuh 2 shouted angrily.

Numbuh 1 scratched his bald head. "Well, not really. And I don't even remember it that well. But from what I can remember...it was barbaric. Criminal. And as we now know-true."

Hearing this, Amber seemed to go into a time-stop. Everything just froze. Her hand fell on the briefcase, closing it. Hope swarmed in her eyes. "What?" she mouthed.

"We were able to dig up files on the mission you mentioned. It was sketchy, but the message was clear: it's real. You're not lying. We can help you. We'll do whatever we can to make sure Father never puts a hand on you or your siblings again." He pounded his fists together.

Amber didn't move. Her heart pounded loudly. Every nerve in her was on tensity overload. She stood trembling for a moment, and then the words escaped.

"Thank...you."

"Anytime," Numbuh 5 said.

With that, Amber couldn't hold it in anymore. "YESSSS!" She jumped up, hit the roof, came back down, and began babbling.

"Oh yes yes YES! Thank you! Oh, this will be great-no Father, no worries-"

"Woah, slow down there!" Numbuh 5 said. "You're not free yet."

"Well, yes," she said, "But still THERE'S HOPE!" She jumped again-and something odd happened.

Bright orange beams shot out of her palms, making holes in two sides of the tree house. Sector V's mouths immediately hit the floor.

It took Amber a second to realize what she had done. When it hit her, it was awful. She looked at Sector V, at the walls, at her own two hands.

"What the...did..._I_ do that?"

I've got news for ya-_she did._

* * *

Wow, a cliffhanger. Last thing you want right now, eh?

Bye! -SP


	14. Powers

Hiyeh! Here is the extra special happy fun next chapter! I don't know why, but I just feel especially happy today.

* * *

almostinsane: Thanks! 

Numbuh 373: Phew. I'm actually kind of relieved. And still behind...I only saw 1 of the new eps. Dangey.

Velvet Panther: Heh, cruel eh?  
YAY! Keep the faith! And it really was a shame. That's why I hang out at the IZFAS a lot (I'm Invader Pants there).  
Who? Sorry, not familliar with him. But I did go to this Washington D.C.book thing a few years back, and they managed to get Julie Andrews for book signings. My group couldn't get to her, but I did see the back of her head. She didn't really look anything like in the movies.

BoxieRoxie: (both): Thanks.

Ranma Higurashi: Here you go!

Purple Ghost Sausage: Yep. The only reason I do it is because I'm really lazy.

Ginny-Hates-Them: Crawled off what?

* * *

Chapter 13: Powers 

"Did...I do that?"

"I think you did," Numbuh 3 said quietly. Numbuh 4 slammed his hand over her mouth and began shouting.

"Traitor! You tricked us! Yeh probably had it all planned out! You even had it planned that I brushed my teeth last night! I NEVER BRUSH MY TEETH! But whatever yeh'r plannin, it'll die along with you!" He lunged for Amber.

"No, no..." Amber said, her voice cracking. "I had no idea...please..."

"Stop."

Numbuh 1 grabbed Numbuh 4's shoulder. He knew the look of fear that Amber had. It was the same look he had when that manic kid advenced on him with that radioactive razor, about to shave his hair off permanently. And it was all the Delightfuls' fault...

No. It was Father's. Father controlling the Deligh...I mean, his children. Or maybe it was Numbuh 5 for not saving that kid. Who cared? He knew in his heart that she was innocent. He didn't know how he knew, but somehow, he knew what he knew, and that was all he needed to know, y'know?

"Don't hurt her," he continued. "She's innocent."

"WHAT?" Numbuh 4 leaped onto his leader. "Did you not see what she just did? She couldv'e killed us!"

"But she didn't," Numbuh 1 said. "Although she did ruin the paint job-" he glanced over at the holes made by her blasts- "Nothing else happened!"

"Ain't convincing!"

"Well..." Numbuh 1 couldn't think of any more creative excuses. "Let's just say that she's innocent, it's not anything we can't handle, and...stuff. I still trust her, okay?"

"Grr..." Numbuh 4 backed down, but as he slid to the floor, he shot a glance at Amber. "You evil thing."

Numbuh 1 ignored that. "I'm sure that there's a logical explanation for all this." He thought for a minute, and the answer came to him in a flash. "I've got it! Amber, did Father have his freaky fire-type powers when you were born?"

"I think so," she said, still a little shocked from the scenario.

"Oh, I get it!" Numbuh 5 interrupted. She had been patiently figuring it all out for the last 15 paragraphs. "Amber must have inherited superpowers from Father! They've probably been dormant in her genetic code until now, but Amber's sudden explosion of emotion must have awakened them."

Everyone stared at her.

"What? Don't you guys watch cartoons?"

"Actually, that was just what I was thinking," Numbuh 1 said. "It's possible that your siblings have similar, if not more, powers. We'll deal with them later. For now, we'll concentrate on you."

"But..." Amber said, voice quiet, "I don't even know what I can do."

"We can guess that your powers are similar to Father's, and work from there. We know that you can destroy stuff...not very useful. Well, in the cartoons, superpowered people have more than one power. Try focusing as hard as you can."

Amber closed her eyes. _Come on, _she thought. _Just one little miracle. I don't have much time until dinner! Father could be heading this way right now!Come on...come on..._

As she thought this, something odd was happening. The operatives seemed to be hearing those thoughts. Her forehead grew hot. She saw red, and collapsed.

"No! I can't do this! I'm a freak! I'm a freak! NO!" Random explosions found their way around the room as she leaped up and scrambled for the door.

"Numbuh 2, bar the door!" Numbuh 1 commanded. Before Amber could reach it, Numbuhs 2 and 4 had pasted themselves in front of the door, making escape impossible.

"Amber, we're just trying to help," Numbuh 1 said, walking towards her. "Don't you want to be helped?"

She panted for a bit. "Yes..."

"Good. I should have said this before, but I think thatwhat you really need right now is control, and you don't have any. I don't think Father knows about your powers, and we want it to stay that way. Don't you?"

"...Okay."

* * *

The next hours were spent teaching Amber how to control her powers. As it turned out, the 'thought-hearing' was actually a form of uncontrolled telepathic communication. As Amber calmed down, more powers came out of hiding. She could also control inanimate objects, anf had limited flying ability. Of course, she didn't master them all at once. 

Sector V had her practice by running random obstacle courses (which, in my opinion, they were having a little too much fun configuring), shooting at badly drawn pictures of Father, and trying to hold objects in midair for as long as she could. Slowly but surely, she improved. By the end of the day, despite a few small mishaps (she missed the drawing and hit one of Numbuh 3's dolls at one point, making for an unexpected self-defense class) she was ready. She could blast at will, control the thoughts she sent to others, and hold objects in the air for about ten minutes. Flying, however, needed some improvement. She hadn't really gotten past hovering, and she still floated about and inch above the ground whenever she got angry. But she was still grateful to Sector V for all that they had done. She walked home with happiness in her heart.

Of course, that happiness had to be shattered somehow. How about Father meeting her at the door?

"Hello, Amber," he said, an odd tone to his voice. "You're not supposed to be out at this hour."

Amber looked around. She had been found out! "Uhh...uhhh..."

"As a matter of fact, you should never be out at all." He loomed suddenly over her. In a flash, he enveloped her in his shadowlike body and rushed her inside.

His form was so thick, nobody could hear her scream.

* * *

Creepie. Bye, SP 


	15. The SOS

Hi! I bet you're happy about the quick update. I was in a writing mood today.

* * *

Velvet Panther: Hmm, I'll look for them. 

almostinsane: Thanks.

* * *

Disclaimer: I do not own KND or 'Down Hill From Here'.

* * *

Knd001 has entered the chatroom  
PresLincoln has entered the chatroom 

Knd001: Hi Numbuh 5.You done with dinner?  
PresLincoln: yeah  
PresLincoln: numbuh 5's here  
PresLincoln: today sure was crazy huh?  
Knd001: Yes, but at least Amber's got control. Good thing we discovered the powers before Father did.  
PresLincoln: yep  
PresLincoln: so we're gonna help her destroy father  
Knd001: Stop double-posting like that, it's annoying.  
PresLincoln: it's traditional, numbuh 1  
PresLincoln: pfft  
Knd001: Whatever. Anyway, yes, yes we are. And her powers will just make things easier.  
PresLincoln: sure, chief  
PresLincoln: oh  
Knd001: What?  
PresLincoln: idea forming  
PresLincoln: taking shape  
PresLincoln: COMPLETE!  
Knd001: An idea? What is it?  
PresLincoln: you'll see tomorrow  
PresLincoln: numbuh 5 signing off  
Knd001: No, wait! Whaddya mean that I'll see?

PresLincoln has left the chatroom  
PresLincoln has signed off

Knd001: Ugh. Okay, see you tommorrow.

Knd001 has left the chatroom  
Knd001 has signed off

Rainbowmonkee has entered the chatroom  
warrrleetrabree has entered the chatroom  
Planewing2 has entered the chatroom

Rainbowmonkee: What'd I miss?  
Planewing2: What'd I miss?  
warrrleetrabree: wrth m1 m33z?

Chapter 14: The S.O.S.

_The Lincoln's house  
Right after dinnertime_

Abby closed her laptop. She placed it in a corner of her room, flopped down on her bed, and thought for a bit. Was her idea really that good? What would she say? Would she submit?

Those thoughts would get her nowhere. She just had to stand up and do what she had to do. Force information.

She adjusted her cap, got some earmuffs, and got a notepad. Bravely, she leaped from her room, stealthilyforward-rolled down the hallway, and stopped by a door. She put on the earmuffs and knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" a voice called.

"Uhh...your father!" Abby said, doing her best impression of her dad.

"Okay, Abby, that's just sad." The door opened, revealing Cree. As Abby had expected, a wave of loud music exploded out of the room (it was the song 'Down Hill From Here' by I don't know). It was so loud that she had to recoil a few feet, even with earmuffs.

"What do you want?"Cree said angrily. "Spying on me, are you?"

"If I was spying, I wouldnt've knocked."

"Good point." She thought for a second. "Why exactly are you here?"

"Let's see," Abby said, opening her notepad. "I just need to ask you a few questions."

"Oh, really?" Cree said, voice going from cold and threatening to gooey and sister-dearest like in a millisecond. "Like what?"

"Well, we at the Kids Next Door are about to begin an assault on somewhere. We understand that you have information on the somewhere, and would probably be willing to share it under the circumstances."

"You know, if you had presented this about a year or two ago, I might've cared. But I DON'T!" Her shout was even louder than the insanely loud music.

"Really? I understand that a year or two ago, you cared about it like heck. You even escaped your decommisioning to continue it. Perhaps you remember- April 17, 1998?"

Cree's sneer transformed immediately into a worried look. "How...how do you know about...that day?"

"One of the people involved came to us, looking for help. We're farther along in three or four days than you ever were in five years. But we need more details, like what you've already tried."

Cree's voice sounded like she was in a trance. "Yes...you do. There is a blind spot...in Father's security system. North wall, sixteen feet over. Delightfuls' room is easily acessed from there."

"Thank you," Abby said. "You'd better be right." She packed up to leave.

"No, thank _you_," Cree said, still trance-like. "You've continued the work I wasn't able to finish. Of course, I never had inside help." She smiled softly. "Now- GET OUTTA HERE BEFORE I PUT A HURT ON YA!" Her tone snapped back to angry again.

"Okay, okay..." Abby ran back to her room in a flash. As the door closed, Cree opened hers again. She was smiling.

"Go get em, tiger."

* * *

_The next day  
3 pm_

Numbuh 1 was sitting in his treehouse-room, throwing darts at an old dartboard. He was stressed. Over the past few days, things had been quite hectic. First Amber had come into their lives with her noble cause, then the Moonbase trip and the whole powers thing- it was enough to make anyone pull their hair out- or in Numbuh 1's case, repeatedly bang on his skull.

But he wasn't unwilling to help- no sir. It was a Kids Next Door honor to help a child in need. And Amber was defenitely that- a child in need of Fatherlessness. They couldn't give up on her now.

Just then, a message screamed through the Treehouse. "Incomming Transmission! All operatives report to control immediately!"

As fast as he could, Numbuh 1 tore out of his room and to control. The other four filtered in just as quickly.

"Report," Numbuh 1 said. "Play transmission!"

"Playing transmission." A voice was broadcast throught the Treehouse. It sounded eerily like...

Amber.

"Kids Next Door! Kids Next Door! We have trouble, I repeat, we have trouble! Father, he...oh no...GET OVER HERE NOW! I-" The message filled with static, so the next parts were hard to understand. There was a final scream-

"ITHARTREEEKKKK!"

And the message died.

They stared at nothing for a few seconds. Then Numbuh 1 spoke.

"You heard her...we have to get over there...NOW!"

At that, all hell broke loose. Numbuh 2 made a mad scramble for the docking bay, trying to figure out which BattleMech to use. Numbuh 3 ran around in circles for no reason. Numbuh 4 dashed towards the aresenal cabinet to get weapons. Numbuh 5 walked at her own pace, knowing that the others would just runand run and get nowhere for a bit, to get her notebook. And Numbuh 1 tapped at his keyboard frantically, telling Moonbase that they were going on a big mission and would probably request backup.

Half an hour later, everyone was ready. Well, except Numbuh 3. She was still running around with no reason.

"Okay. We're all ready. Remember, if any of them are in emotional states we could be in trouble. We haven't any time to spare. Kids Next Door, head for the-

KIDS NEXT DOOR S.T.R.U.C.T.E.R.Y. Super Titantic Robot Ubermabob Crushes sTuffs Ever Really Yuluperquietly.

So they did. And, quietly, they jumped out of the Treehose and headed down the lane.

Of course, that was where they were, right?

* * *

_Father's Mansion  
two and a half seconds later_

"Yes, Kids Next Door, we have trouble," Father said. He walked across the room he was in. "Trouble for you when you meet my latest creation." He pulled on a rope, opening a curtain.

"Ah yes," he said to himself. "They are the dream of some, the nightmare of others. They have come from the very depths of obscurity, where danger abounds. They are trained to be experts, to move with deadly precision- usually quite literally.Their only instinct? To assess their target- and kill slowly and painfully. They show no mercy. They are like the deadliest of the expert bounty hunters.They would kill their most trusted friend if ordered by me- but what friends do they have in any case? They are...THE WARRIOR JUVRNILES FROM THE UPSIDE OF DOWNTOWN!"

"Or maybe it should be the downside of Uptown...ah, who cares. But anyway...prepare to burn in this Mansion, Kids Next Door! Isn't that right, _my children?_"

"Yes, Father." In the inky darkness, five pairs of eyes stared blankly ahead...

* * *

Wow. Bye! -SP 


	16. Revelation Again

Hi there! Here is the next chapter. Wow, that was bland.

* * *

Velvet Panther: I was in a writing mood that day. I think I'm still in a writing mood too.  
Cree was very dedicated to that mission. Not even aging would stop that.  
And I think I know what your cat said. It was, "Man, my owner reads this junk? How is she ever entertained?" Hah. Very funny, Angel. Here's a little message for you: aiewrhtp qwiomc iopqwet mno saiecma, 824309 mpamnry 83nkdf epow 4350pa! 

almostinsane: Thanks.

vimpress: Thanks for telling me. I've been wondering who it's by ever since I first heard it. Good song, it is.

MemyselfandI: Thanks!

Out of touch with Reality: Muchos GraciHAS!

* * *

Chapter 15: Revelation 

The S.T.R.U.C.T.E.R.Y.silently rampaged down the long lane. _Who makes a lane this long?_ Numbuh 1 thought. _Geezers._

The lane was so long, Father's mansion didn't even come into sight for a while. When it finally did, the sun was setting in the sky. It was almost curfew time, but they didn't care. All they cared about was saving Amber and her siblings from a horrorble fate.

Just as the last rays of sunlight twinkled in the sky, the hatch in the STRUCTERY opened, allowing Sector V to jump out, weapons in hand. They were wearing communication devices.

"Okay team, here's the plan," Numbuh 1 said. "We go in, fend off the security system-"

"No, we don't," Numbuh 5 said. "We go at the north wall, sixteen feet over. Nothing will attack us there."

Numbuh 1's head whirled around. "How are you so sure?"

"I have my sources. Continue, chief."

"Okay. We enter at that north place, get to Amber and the rest, drop them off at Moonbase, and get back to the Treehouse immediately. The mission is purely search and rescue, we only fire if fired upon. If Father finds us, we'll stand for a fight. Everybody clear?"

"Uh, sure. Whatever."

"Okay. Kids Next Door, MOVE OUT!" At that, Sector V jumped over the gate that lead to the lawns, and ran for the north wall. Numbuh 2 used some sort of long range measurer to pinpoint sixteen feet over, and shot a blast of ink to mark the spot. It made a lovely splot! ing sound, but nothing else happened.

Numbuh made a hand signal towards the others, and they moved in. Activationg something on their shoes, they walked along the splot, straight up the wall. As Cree said, nothing attacked them. After a few minutes of careful climbing, they reached a window. Numbuh 3 threw a rock through it, breaking it. After this, they jumped inside, brandishing their weapons.

"Here we go. Numbuh 3, keep watch. Numbuh 2, try and disable the security systems. Numbuhs 4, 5, and I will go and find Amber and the others. If Father approaches, hit him with all you've got. Clear?"

"Uhh...not really," Numbuh 2 said uncertainly.

"Why?"

"Because we're surrounded by his knight things." Looking around, Numbuh 1 saw that he was right. An entire platoon of Sir Toastys had formed a double ring around the small group. They loomed menacingly.

"Okay..." Numbuh 5 said. "Now what?"

"Uh..." Numbuh 1 said, "Let's run around screaming."

"Yeah, sure, okay." At that, Sector V followed orders. They ran around screaming until the Sir Toasties grabbed them by the waist and slapped them on their heads, knocking them unconsious. The last thing Numbuh 1 saw before he lost counciousness completely was a dark sillouhette.

But it didn't look like Father.

* * *

"Ugh..." 

Rubbing his head, Numbuh 1 stood up. The other four operatives were strewn around him. They were just waking up too.

"What...happened?" Numbuh 3 moaned.

"I...don't know," Numbuh 1 said.

"But I do," a voice said. Now wide awake, the five spun around.

It was Father. He was standing on a stairwell, and getting closer every minute.

"My minions captured you while you were trying to get in," he said. "I don't know why outside security didn't get you, but it all ends here. The Delightful Children are my responsibility. You're not helping anyone."

"You...know?" Numbuh 1 said, shocked.

"Of course I do!" Father said, bursting into flame. "I've known since Day 1! What, do you think I'm stupid?"

"Yes," Numbuh 4 said. Father shot a flare at him, whichjust barelysinged his finger.

"I may be stupid, but it ain't _sheer luck_ that I have you trapped and destroyed!" He laughed evily.

"But we aren't destroyed yet." Numbuh 2 said.

"You may not be, but you will be," Father said. "Allow me to introduce my latest creation."

He pressed a button, and a red curtain lifted. He then repeated the closing paragraph from Chapter 14.

"They are the dream of some, the nightmare of others. They have come from the very depths of obscurity, where danger abounds. They are trained to be experts, to move with deadly precision- usually quite literally.Their only instinct? To assess their target- and kill slowly and painfully. They show no mercy. They are like the deadliest of the expert bounty hunters.They would kill their most trusted friend if ordered by me- _but what friends do they have in any case_?"

Numbuh 1's breath caught in his throat.

"They are...THE WARRIOR JUVRNILES FROM THE UPSIDE OF DOWNTOWN!" He laughed evilly. "Or should I say...The Delightful Children From Down The Lane?"

As the curtain fully rose, the faces of the warrior 'juvrniles' were visible. A short, fat one...a tall, lanky one...one with a round head...a really short one...they were four of the Delightful Children. Leona, Daniel, Michael, and Lenny.

But where was Amber?

That question was answered immediately as she foated down calmly. She was wearing an outfit reminescinent of Terra's Slade outfit from Teen Titans, coplete with the hair over the face. She looked exactly like a younger version of her, all the way down to the face.

Except the eyes. The eyes were black.

"No..." Numbuh 1 breathed. "Amber...what has he done to you?"

Amber said nothing. She lunged at Numbuh 1...

* * *

Bye! And I promise I'll update Urtrip! -SP 


	17. Clash of the Unwilling

Hi. Sorry to leave you hanging. That was a shock, eh?

This is undeniably one of the scariest chapters I have written.

Just to warn yous- This chapter is 90 percent action, and action stories aren't exactly my strongest kind of story.

* * *

Out of touch with reality: I know, shocking! 

almostinsane:...Thanks...

Ranma Higurashi: Okay!

* * *

Chapter 17: Clash of the Unwilling 

Numbuh 1 screamed shrilly and leaped up, trying to avoid her. He failed. A yellow beam held him in midair as Father laughed.

"Ah yes!" he said. "Attack with all you've got, my children! Show no mercy! SHOW NO MERCY!"

"Yes Father," Amber said. Her voice was completely natural. "Aaa-aahh!" She willed Numbuh 1 to slam against the wall repeatedly.

"Liiisseeenn tteeeaammm!" Numbuh 1 said shakily into his comthingy. "Taaakkkeee tthheee othhherrr fourrrr. I'lll bee okayyyy."

"Whatever you say," Numbuh 3 said reluctantly. She and the others turned to face the remaining Warrior Juvrniles, as we must now call them. Their faces were covered, so they couldn't see their eyes. But they could see their mouthes- twisted into evil grins. They wanted blood-and they were going to get it.

"Pick one," Numbuh 5 said. She let out a battle cry and ran towards Michael. Numbuhs 2, 3 and 4 ran towards Daniel, Leona and Lenny, respectively.

Wordlessly and without fear, Michael...dissapeared. Numbuh 5 went right through him. She stopped, surprised. Of course! The other four _did _have powers. She just needed to tease him long enough to figure out his powers, and she could win...

Numbuh 1 was beginning to get a concussion when Amber let him go, after which he tried to run. But no sooner did she do this, she growled and flew after him (now completely in control), shooting flames left and right. Numbuh 1 was afraid. Mortally afraid.He had not been trained to deal with this. He tried his hardest to improvise...

Numbuh 2 wandered over the room. "Geez, where'd he go?" he said to himself. He passed by one of those things you put your umbrellas in and kept running. As he passed, the thing you put your umbrellas in lost its shape; it morphed into a Warrior Juvrnile, Daniel. He had an evil grin on his face. He lashed out, a beam of fire racing from his hand...

Numbuh 1 was still running. He was burned in a few places. His heart churned, his head throbbed, his muscles ached. But he knew one second of rest could mean death. A wall was coming up...

Numbuh 3 walked uncertainly. "Hello? Delightful warrior person? Hello-AAAAAAIIIIIEEEEEEKK!" The area around her suddenly turned dark. The darkness collected into a shadowy creature with many tentacles, an eye on its chest...and Leona's glasses. "AiEEEEEEEEEE!"...

"Numbuh 3!" Numbuh 4 shouted. He began to run to her, but was held back by many firey tentacles. Behind him, Lenny, football helmet still on, was waving his arms in a circular motion, chanting illegibly. Every motion brought more tentacles...

The wall was closer than ever. The room now looked like a minuature hell- the flames from the Warrior Juvrniles had ignited everything in sight. The ornate carpets exposed a cold stone floor, not as cold now. Everything seemed to burn. And in the middle of it all stood Father, still laughing his unholy laugh.

The flames were creeping towards the wall as Numbuh 1 touched it. At this rate, the entire building would be engulfed in a short three hours. The room would collapse in a matter of minutes- about 20, he guessed. The wood in the celing was aready beginning to weaken. What would the Kids Next Door tell his parents? Only 7 KND members had ever died on duty in the entire history of the orginization, so it wasn't a well-practiced ritual. If the Warrior Juvrniles weren't defeated, he had a feeling the number would go up to 12. And one of those...would be himself.

Amber touched down in front of the bravery-deprived operative. She acted as though she was oblivious to the destruction, the doom, the fear of the boy she had cornered. Far as he knew, she felt no guilt.

It was as Father had said. They _would_ kill a friend if ordered. She was about to kill Numbuh 1, the others were in the process of killing Numbuhs 2-5, and even if she didn't kill him, the collapsing room would.

For the first time, Numbuh 1 almost looked forward to his decommisioning. He wanted to forget this. This horror. This ever-growing pain, physical and emotional. He wanted it to go away. He wanted to wake up.

"Amber, p-p-please!" he managed to stutter through blood stained lips. "Why are you d-doing this?"

Amber said nothing. She thrust her hand at him, preparing to form the final blow in her hand. His eyes widened to the size of plates as she moved it slowly towards his face. "Please," he said nervously.

Finally, Amber spoke.

"It is as Father wishes." Her eyes glinted oddly. Numbuh 1 closed his, waiting for the deadly rush.

It never came.

And all of sudden, it came to him. Not the rush of death, but a rush of understanding.

He knew why Amber was serving Father.

* * *

Sigh. I hate to keep you wating, even if on my newfound rush I'll get it up by Thursday.-SP 


	18. Father Cheats

Well, whaddya know. I didn't. But I'm back. And this will be a very intense chapter.

* * *

Out of touch with Reality: Yes. I hate how evil I am. 

almostinsane: This is becoming almost hyptonic...

Ranma Higurashi: Okay!

StoryCrafter: Heyyy, I remember you! You're from back in the Urtrip 2 days! Whazzup? And thanks.

Velvet Panther: Heh, that's okay. Cats aren't that well subject to commands.

* * *

Chapter 18: Father Cheats 

As sweet revelation filled his mind, Numbuh 1's fear slowly went away. It was replaced with anger, pure rage, just unspeakable madness. He smiled knowingly, and leaped on Amber, wrestling her to the ground.

Amber wasn't afraid either, but for totally different reasons. She smiled evilly, her eyes glinted oddly...

Her eyes. They were the key.

Hoping he was right, Numbuh 1 formed a fist. Then, sweating his bald head off, he took aim and socked Amber square in the left eye.

This knocked her out-for half a second. Numbuh 1 leaped away. As Amber staggered to her feet, Numbuh 1 could see something black fall from her face.

It was her eye. Sort of. Actually, it was the black contact lens that covered her eye. Underneath, her eye was that hyptonic blue of Delighfulization. Or in this case, Warriorization.

The little black disc landed in Amber's hand. She stared at it in shock for a moment, then crushed it, looking angrier by the second. The one on her right eye crumbled away, melted by fury. Her entire face seemed to go into stress overload as she staggered up.

BA BOOM! Columns of molten fire scorched through the floor, darmatically setting the air ablaze. Parts of Amber's outfit began of burn and fringe. She looked like one of those mummies you see in overbudget movies, walking forward to finish off Numbuh 1, face drawn tight.

"Hah!" Father laughed. "So I am controlling them! Smart, kid, _real smart_!" As he said this, the other four Warrior Juvrniles released their grips on the very beaten Numbuhs 2-5. Their masks fell from their faces, as did the black contact lenses.

"Wait..." Numbuh 5 said, on the last of her breath, "How...did...did you...come up with...with a plan...like that?" She collapsed, although not dead.

"I built off yours," he said. "I have to admit, when you and my Delightful Children combined their plans, you made one that I'm surprised you're smart enough to make. But I'm always two steps ahead of you. I found the contact lenses you gave them, and decided to use a similar plan against you. And now, the Kids Next Door will fall, all because they were too trustworthy. And your parents? They'll think you died in a car crash. I've got everything all set up. There's no escape."

"Oh...yes...there...IS!" Numbuh 1 ran to Amber. "Please, Amber! Show me a sign you're still there!"

"I don' know what you're talking about." She threw him to the ground.

"Good job," Father said. He began laughing again. "You'll never win! The children are absolutely unable of breaking free from my control now! The only way you could is if you got this controller-" He held up a large device with a button- "And you'll never get it! Hahaha! Huh?" As he had been laughing, Numbuh 3 had staggered up, grabbed the device, and pressed the button.

Father slapped his forehead. "Should've seen that coming," he mumbled.

As the button was pushed, Amber's eyes glowed quite bright. She screamed as white light erupted from them. She fell for a second, and slowly came up. Her eyes were black again.

"Oh...ohh...what..." She gasped. "Numbuh 1!" She jumped up and ran to him. "Y-you shouldn't be here! The SOS...it..." She looked around. "Well, I guess you know it was a trick. And that Father knows everything."

"Yes. But...how did you allow it to get this far? I mean, this room's going to collapse in 30 seconds."

There was a pause as that sank into the people's minds.

"THE ROOM'S GONNA COLLAPSE!" Pandemonium broke loose. Delightfuls tripped over operatives, operatives tripped over Father, Father tripped over everyone. They were all trying to get out. "HEY! OUTTA MY WAY! MOVE!"

They were out the door in 29 seconds. Just as they got out, the main room of the Delightful Mansion exploded, bringing a lot of the rest of the mansion with it. Whatever wasn't splinters was fire, and whatever wasn't fire was charred black. The lawn was good and flame free, however. Everyone clamored onto there.

"Okay..." Numbuh 4 said, "Where were we?" He pounded his fists together.

"Actually, I'd like to settle this," Amber said. "I don't want any of you in any more danger than you already are. Go back to the treehouse and find homes for yourselves. I'll be along."

"Amber, no!" Miachel and Numbuh 1 said at the same time. "You'd only be throwing your own life away!" The two stared at each other. "Okay..."

"This is my problem. I got you all into this mess..." Her eyes flames yellow, "And...I'm...getting...you...out!" She ran to Father, who had been slipping on the grass this enitre time. "You."

"What?" Father said.

"How could you. How could you endanger the lives of your own flesh and blood just to wipe out the Kids Next Door? It's called child abuse, and there are laws against it."

"Supervillans don't have to abide by laws, Amber." His hands were beginning to sizzile, as were Amb's. "You, of all people, should know that."

"Shut up." She hurled flame at Father, which he blocked. "Guys, RUN!"

"Didn't have to tell me twice." The others made a break for it- except Numbuh 1. He just looked on sadly, _then _made a break for it.

"Oo hoo hoo!" Father said. "Bad little girl! Your'e gonna get in TROUBLE!" He exploded into flame. Both flew into the air...

* * *

Woah. Story is coming to a close soon! -SP 


	19. The Final Battle, Part 1

...I can't figure out anything witty to say. Except that this chapter will be done as well as I can.

Now, as you read this chapter, turn on some battle music. It can be any music that fits the mood. 'Numb', 'Breaking The Habit', and 'Session' by Linkin Park are good.

* * *

Ranma Higurashi: Okay! 

almostinsane: I just figured it out. Were you really trying to hypnotize me?

nooneimportant: Hm...looks like you stopped at Chapter 6. If you liked that, you'll really like chapters 7-19.

* * *

Chapter 18: The Final Battle, Part 1 

Numbuh 1 tried to run with the others, but he found it hard to keep on. He was looking behind himself the entire time, trying to see what Father was doing to Amber, and vice versa. But they had dissapeared into a whirl of fire. He couldn't see what they were doing.

He reached the Treehouse last. When he did, he was out of breath. "Okay," he said hopelessly. "All of you, get to MedLab. Whichever operative is the least hurt, tend to the others."

"But-what about you? What about Amber?" Leona looked worried.

"I'll call Global Command and tell them to get down here. To bring all the best operatives. We'll need all the help we can get. As for Amber..." He trailed for a bit. "She'll...distract Father. We'll go back to her in a bit." His words were heavy with regret. "Now...go."

"Yes, sir!" They ran to MedLab as Numbuh 1 called Moonbase.

"Numbuh 1!" Numbuh 86 shouted. She was in pajamas."You need backup?"

"YES!" Numbuh 1 shouted. "I need as much as you can give.Gather them on Father's lawn. You'll see why when you get there."

"Okay..." Numbuh 86 said uncertainly. "KIDS NEXT DOOR! ALL REPORT TO DOCKING BAY! MAJOR EMERGENCY AT SECTOR V!" She cut the transmission.

Numbuh 1 looked away from the now-snowed monitor. "Please, hurry." He shuffled over to Medlab.

* * *

Amber tried to go higher. Past the clouds, the atmosphere- anything to escape from Father. But Father seemed to be all-seeing. Every dodge she took, he would snap over. He seemed intimidating enough when she was in submission to him, but now he was invincible. Horrible. Unstoppable. 

The battle was enitrely in midair. The skies were scorched red with the combined fury of the father and the daughter. The moon was directly overhead. It was midnight, but it looked like a sunset- intimidating, awesome, and way too red.

As the battle raged, Amber found herself weakening. She may have good on her side, but Father was more experienced with his powers. Amber had only found them yesterday, and in her undelightfulized state, she wasn't very in control of her flying. Her blasts and object control were still average, though. This gave her an advantage, as Father didn't have object control (why not? Don't ask me).

She punched. He dodged easily. She willed rocks to smash him. He melted them like candle wax. She blasted him. He absorbed it. It was like fighting Chaos in FF1. Way too frustrating for someone as impatient for freedom as Amber. She almost felt like giving up.

She also felt Father grabbing onto her ankle.

* * *

"Oh, hurry up!" Numbuh 1 said, banging on the keyboard. He was afraid. He had never confronted such a problem. What had started as a gesture of kindness to a friend had escalated into that freind fighting the one thing she was afraid of, everyone covered in their own toil, and, doubtless, big trouble with their parents. Parents that didn't understand. 

"Numbuh 1!" Numbuh 5 said. She ran into the main room. "All pateints in MedLab and recovering. Is backup coming?"

"Yes."

"Mmm." She looked away. "Y'know, Numbuh 1?"

"What?"

"Well, y'know where I got the coordinates? For the breakin thing?"

"Uh, no."

"They were from Cree. She gave them willingly. But Numbuh 5's not too sure why. It could have all been a trap. My sis just don't help us like that."

"That IS suspicous," Numbuh 1 said. "We'll deal with it later. Right now, Amber needs us!" He snapped on an intercom. "Kids Next Door-and Michael, Daniel, Leona, and Lenny-BATTLE STATIONS! We're going back for Amber!"

Numbuh 5 smiled. "Said like a true kid, chief." She ran to take off her MedLab outfit.

* * *

Meanwhile, an entire battalion of Kids Next Door members landed on Father's lawn. As they looked up, they saw the losing struggle overhead. Their first thought? 

"Who the heck is that?"

* * *

Bye! -SP 


	20. The Final Battle, Part 2

Hi! IT'S TIME FOR THE PULSE POUNDING CONCLUSION! ...Well, not really. Details at the bottom of the page.

* * *

almostinsane: I don't know, I is just a simple person doing stuff for the Intermasses... 

Oracle Master: Thanks. And of course I won't delete it!

blitzkrieg414: Thnanks!

Ranma Higurashi: Okay!

Velvet Panther: I'm guessing that's not much good.

* * *

Chapter 19: The Final Battle, Part 2 

Numbuh 1 tore across the front lawn of what was Father's mansion, leading the rest. He ran over to Numbuh 86, who was busy ushering everyone out of a shuttle pod.

"Report!" He said. "Everything getting set up?"

"Yes...but...why exactly are we here? You were a little vague with the details."

"You're never going to believe us," Numbuh 5 said, "But the Delightful Children are acting against their will, and one of them came to us for help, and now we're in big trouble, Father's trying to kill us, and...well...you get the idea."

Numbuh 86 blinked. "I think I get you..." she said.

"Good," Numbuh 1 said, barely pausing to breathe. "Now, set up all of the stuff you brought. And QUICK! I don't think Amber can take any more."

"Who's Amber?"

"I...I'll explain later."

* * *

Cree sat in her room, legs propped up on her TV, displaying '100 percent Total Teen'music videos. She hoped that new Click Five one would come on. It was pretty good.

Hey- she hadn't seen Abby in a while. Wonder where she is. Probably with that dumb club. Wonder what they're doing.

She changed the channel. Teen Shopping...Teen Shows...this set of stations set up by the Sophmore Squad rocked. Teen News...

"Hey, stop that clicker! We, like, have a totally awesome announcement!"

Cree's thumb stopped.

"Uhh...reports are totally coming in that all the KND in like, the world are all on Father's lawn! Here are some grabs, yo!" The picture on Teen News snapped to all of the KND looking up in awe. It then changed to Father, fighting a very beat-up girl. His hand was clenched around her throat, and she struggled for breath. Her black eyes were full of hurt. Her bow was unmistakeable...

"That Delightful kid..." Cree breathed. She dropped the remote. She sat stairing for a minute...and then was out of the door in five seconds.

* * *

"Father...stop..."

"No. I'll never stop." Father threw Amber down, her blood streaking after her. "At least, not until you learn propler RESPECT!" He grabbed her again, and threw her down. This time he didn't catch her. And she didn't pull herself up.

On the ground, all of the KND watched in mortification as she fell from the sky. Two MedLab ops held a strecher beneath her, which shefell on. They tried to treat her wounds, but she refused their help. "I'm fine!" she kept shouting, blood streaming down her face as she did so.

"No, you're not!" Numbuh3 kept insisting. "You have to get your strength back!"

"I can fight Father with the strength I have," Amber said. With confidence, she flew back up.

Father was among the clouds, filing his nails. "What took you so long?" he said. "The Kids Next Door didn't do a good job of mopping up, I seeeEEYAAGG!" Amber had grabbed him in a neck hold, and was ushering him to the ground.

"What the-WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Amber didn't answer.

"OKAY!" he shouted about 15 feet from the ground, breaking free. "You are going to pay, Amber! I'm going to enjoy this!" He mustered up every last speck of his power into his hand. He pinned Amber to the ground withhis foot.A fireball formed so large, it badly burned the skin of two operatives standing nearby. All of the weapons that the KND were firing at Father this entire time were useless. With amighty heave, he hurled it straight at Amber's head.

Panic filled the eyes of everyone around. This could be her final moment, one who had fought so tirelessly just to gain something she and her siblings had always wanted- freedom. Everyone couldn't help feeling sadness. Even Father, who shook it off immediately.

Thinking fast, Amber...

* * *

Gasp! What a cliffhanger! Will Amber survive? Will the world's kids surrender their free will?

Well, you'll find out in the end. Or two. Or three.

What does this mean? Well, I came up with 3 endings for this story. I couldn't decide which to use, so I'm going to show all of them to you! They are the Happy, Sad, and Neutral endings, and will be displayed in that order. Each will spawn its own sequel.

But a warning- Amber 'dies' in at least one of the endings!

-SP


	21. The Happy Ending, Part 1

Hi! Now, becomes the beginning of the first (and happiest) end!

* * *

Ranma Higurashi: Yep! Evilest cliffe of the set! 

Amanda: Well, she can altrenate sometimes, can't she? I'm a rock/pop type person, but I listen to rap/hiphop sometimes.

Anonymous: First, I'd like to congratulate you on giving me my first bad review! I was wondering when I'd get one. Thanks. And that wasn't sarcasm. Bad reviews tell people where they need to improve.  
And second, I've never seen LOCKDOWN. I'll go see if it's coming on anytime soon.

almostinsane: Oops. Actually, I misspelled proper, not respect. Propler :)

ash dude: Thanks!

superdork398: Thanks! And I love your username.

Purple Ghost Sausage: Okay!

* * *

Chapter 20a: The Happy Ending, Part 1 

Jerked over, causing the fireball to miss.

"Huh?" Father said. "But-" He didn't have time to finish. Amber tossed his leg off her, jumped up, and hit him square in the jaw. Blood seeped from his mouth. He growled.

"Nobody holds me down," Amber said. She flew up, spun around, and landed on Father's stomach, knocking him flat. "Not even you!"

She kicked him across the lawn. Temporarily drained of his power by the fireball, Father was helpless. She flew over, grabbed him by the neck, and held his head up to hers.

"For seven years, you tried to hold us down. You treated us like pawns, useless peices in the game of life. Like we weren't your children. Like you weren't our father! How can you even deserve to call yourself one?"

She punched him in the noggin. "Fathers raise you!" Another punch. "Fathers protect you!" Yet another punch. "Fathers help you with your problems!"

She dropped him, and flew over to where the Kids Next Door stood. All except Sector V were in shock now that they heard her talk like that. _Isn't that a Delightful Child?_ they thought. Up until now, they just thought she was an extremely brave child. And they still did.

"I was raised by my siblings, protected by the Kids Next Door, helped by both!" She got angrier by the second. "And all you did was make their job harder!" Fire surged in her hands. "_You're going to pay..._"

She surged toward him. Unexpectedly, Father said something that would change the course of the story forever.

"Wait, stop! Can't we make a deal or something?"

* * *

Amber flinched- for a second. "I'm not buying this." 

"No, really," Father said. "I'm willing to talk this out without a fight."

Amber blinked. "Okay. You have 100 words."

Father took a deep breath. "I'm offering you three choices. Perhaps I could forget this whole thing happened. Perhaps I would be willing not to punish you. But you would have to be willing to do as I say for the rest of your lives."

Amber knew that wouldn't be the one.

"Of course, I could be angry with you. I could punish you- _for eight months._ I don't think you've ever had one that long."

Amber gasped. _Eight months? _She could barely stand five minutes.

"But, when you turn eighteen, you will be free of me forever. You can move out of the country if you want to."

"Hmm...uuhh..."

"Or, you could keep fighting and never settle this. It's your choice. And I-"

"Okay, 100 words up," Amber said. "And..." She tried to think. What would she choose? Choice 1 was off the list. Choice two sounded good- but eight months... Choice three? At least there was half a chance.

Everyone waited with baited breath until finally, ten minutes later, Amber spoke.

"Fire up the Delightfulization chamber, Father. I'm ready for my eight-month sentence."

Everyone gasped. "No, Amber..." Nmbuh 1 began.

"It's what I have to do," Amber said. "At least this way, we'll be free someday."

"But you'll be free as adults!"

"Better adult than not at all." She smiled. "Thank you, Kids Next Door...you know, for everything. But...Numbuh 1, ther's one more thing I need to ask."

"Anything."

"What's that on your shoe?" She pointed at his shoe.

"What?" He looked down. As he did, Amber leaned over and kissed him on his bald head. As she pulled away, Numbuh 1 seemed to go all jellyly. He sank to the ground in a happy faint. All the KND operatives began cavorting at how sick and gross it was.

"Come on guys," Amber said, beckoning to her siblings. "We've had a long night." Looking back on the free world she loved one last time, she walked slowly towards the ruin that used to be her house. She stopped.

"Uhh...I'm not going to have to pay for the house, am I?" She laughed.

* * *

As everyone was laughing, an all-too familliar face dropped in- Cree's. She flew in using her BRA, landed, and did all sorts of kungfu poses.

"Okay, where are they?"

"Uhh...sis?" Numbuh 5 said. "We already beat him. At least, Amber did." She smiled. "It's all over."

"It...it...it is?" A tear escaped her eye. Without warning, she grabbed Numbuh 5 and squeezed her into a bone crushing hug.

"I love you sis.I really, really do."

* * *

The epilogue to this ending comes next. Hope this is good. -SP 


	22. The Happy Ending, Part 2

And now comes the slightly heartrending ending to the Happy Ending. So, technically, the story's over. But you can stay for the neutral and sad endings, if you want.

Why am I updating so fast? WHAT IS WRONG WITH MEE?

* * *

Ranma Higurashi: I know! 

almostinsane: Thanks!

Velvet Panther: A short review? That's kinda odd for you. But, thanks!

Gijinka Renamon: Okay!

Purple Ghost Sausage: Thanks!

* * *

Chpater 21a: The Happy Ending, Part 2 

_one week later  
A hotel_

It wasn't a big hotel, nor a small one. It was just your average outsida-town Hilton that had gone independent for no reason. It also happened to be where Father and the Delightfuls were staying while the mansion was being rebuilt. It was their luck that that would take a month. Father would have to reconstruct a duplicate Delightfulization Chamber, which would take about two weeks. He was already half done, but that didn't concern Amber.

Father was in a seperate room from his children, as the duplicate Delightfulizer took up most of the room. So they were free to try the TV channels, jump on the bed, and annoy room service. There was a bible in the bedside table drawer, which Amber spent her free time reading. It kept her mind off much more pressing matters.

Such as what was to come. When Father's duplicate Chamber was complete, it was going to be eight months in darkness. Pain. Longing. Loss of control.

In the middle of reading about The Wisdom of Solomon, Amber shut the bible. She walked over to her window and gazed outside longingly. She sighed and turned over. It was late, she should get to sleep. But she couldn't. It had been like this for the past week. She hoped her decision had been right.

Just as she at last began to feel drowsy, there was a knock on the door. Amber sleepily got up and opened the door. "Yeah, what?"

It was room service. "I gottsa package for a miss Amber Wigglestein?" He held out a shoddily packaged something with the KND logo on it.

"I'll take that, thanks!" She grabbed it and shut the door.

"Guys! Guys! Wake up! We got something from the Kids Next Door!" This comment roused her siblings, bleary-eyed and drowsy. "Yeah, whatdweget?" they groaned.

"I guess we better find out!" With some difficulty due to the bad packaging, Amber tore the box open.

Inside was a note, a smaller box, and what looked like a formal letter. She read the formal letter first.

**Dear Amber, Lenny, Mikey, Danny, and Leona**

**The Kids Next Door have been thoroughly amazed with your act of bravery, sacrifice, and risk in the face of Father. This was a deed that not even our highest authority can do without screaming for their mommies. We commend you for this.**

**As a visible sign of our commendation, we award you the Kids Next Door Code of Supremity. Amber, since she has done more than the rest, will recieve Second Class (out of ten classes). The rest of you will recieveFourth Class for bearing Father's oppresion for seven years- y'know, being his kids and all. Amber's is the blue one, the rest of yours are yellow.**

**Normally, this would be presented in a ceremony, as even Tenth Class Codes of Supremity are very high awards, but due to circumstances, we've sent them to you. Keep in mind that these are VERY big KND awards, especially since you are not operatives and never will be, haven't had any formal training, and have been considered enemies for about three years. Second Class is especially rare, Amber, so DON'T LOSE IT OR LET FATHER SEE IT.**

**Hope you have a good rest of your lives. We'll be checking up on you.**

**Signed,**

There was a list of high rankingKND ops, including Numbuhs 1-5.

"Woah," Daniel said. They just stared at the letter.

"I guess that's what's in the box," Michael said. "Go on, open it!"

Amber did. It was a bit easier to open. Inside were four square peices of metal-like hard stuff with engravings on them. One was blue, the rest yellow.

The blue one said:

**To Amber Wigglestein  
For Bravery and undying commitement to the  
****mental freedom of Children all over the world  
Kids Next Door Code of Supremity, Second Class  
April 16, 2005**

The yellow ones said pretty much the same thing, except the name and class.

"Cool! That's what it is, right?" Leona picked up the one that had her name on it. The others-except Amber- busied themselves with their awards.

Amber turned her attention away from the small blue plaque and to the hastily written note in the box.

_Dear Amber (and the rest of you, if you're there),_

_Hi there! I hear you're in that old Hilton. Hope Father isn't treating you too badly._

_Things aren't going too well with the KND. Some operatives are refusing to believe you've been our side the entire time. Habit,I guess. But lotsa them see you as heroes. I mean, you've delayed Father's plans for a month, and you'll be free someday! Numbuh 362 even got some Codes of Supremity for you. They're with this letter. Don't they look awesome? All of Sector V got Fifth Class for helping you guys. Can you belive it? FIFTH CLASS! It's lower than you got (Second Class? DO YOU KNOW HOW AWESOME THAT IS? Only twenty other kids have gotten that in history, and only five kids ever got First Class), but it is still AWESOME. I've only recieved Tenth Class before._

_Things are going normal at Sector V, though. Numbuh 1's been a little loopy since you kissed him, oh scratch that, he's VERY loopy. With love. So I've been doing leader stuff while he babbles. Aah, you should hear the stuff he's saying. It's even better than TV._

_Anyway, we send our regards, hope you have a good time, and hope you don't rip up this letter when you're Delightfulized._

_YOU GUYS ROCK!_

_Numbuhs 2-5, written by Numbuh 5._

_**AMBER! HIIII! HOW YA DOING? WEE! I LOVE YOU! **--------------------Numbuh 1 says hi too._

Amber looked at the celing. _I send regards too, _she thought. She played with her hair idly as she picked up the remote. She clutched her Code of Supremity in her other hand, feeling a friendly warmth pulsate through her as she turned on the TV.

**END TRANSMISSION**

* * *

And now, the Happy Ending is over! You can now read straight through this with an actual ending! Wee! But now, I have two more endings and the next book of Urtrip to work on. 

Woopee!

-SP


	23. The Sad Ending, Part 1

Man, I feel wierd. I stop updating for two months, and now I'm practically updating every two days at the least. Maybe I could work on three stories at this rate...

Anyway, here begins the Sad Ending.

* * *

Purple Ghost Sausage: Thanks! 

Velvet Panther: They're all actually pretty sad, but that one's the happiest. They'll be set free someday, and without a struggle. Just wait till you see these endings. They are nowhere near as...tame.

almostinsane: Thanks!

Ranma Higurashi: Okay!

* * *

Chapter 20b: The Sad Ending, Part 1 

...Couldn't think fast enough.

The fireball hit her square in the face.

Numbuh 1 winced as he heard her scream. A bright flash of light filled the night, making the scream even more painful.

As the flash cleared, Amber came into view- but she didn't look like Amber. Her face was a mask of burns, her outfit was charred, but suprisingly hung on over her...well, you knows. She let out a wild howl and ran at Father. She gripped onto him, burning into his skin, showing no signs of letting go.

"Hey, stop it! STOP IT!" Amber wasn't listening. She just howled again and gave him a good kick in the stomach. Her long dirty-blond hair had caught fire, it was slowly creeping its way up to her skull.

"PLEASE, STOP IT!" Surprisingly, Amber did. She fell onto her knees, groaning with pain. "Yes...no..."

She screamed a final scream. A white light burst from her. Numbuh 1's vision went black...

* * *

"Man, he gave us a scare." 

"Good thing that she brought us here, he wouldv'e died."

"Ssh, I think he's coming to." Numbuh 1's eyes opened, his vison blurry. It cleared. Numbuhs 362, 2, and 5 were standing over him. "Numbuh 1?" Numbuh 362 said, holding out her hand to him.

"I'm fine," Numbuh 1 said, leaping up. "Where's Amber? Where's Father?"

"I'll answer your last question first," Numbuh 362 said. "Father- and the rest of the Delightful Children, except Amber- have dissappeared. We can't find them on the radar. We have signs posted, though, and all the operatives are on the lookout."

"And...A-amber?"

"Amber..." Numbuh 5 hung her head. "Numbuh 5 didn't wanna be the one to break this to you, but Amber's been hurt bad. No no, she ain't dead, but she's pretty close. Only the MedOps can see her. Numbuh 3's one of them, so we'll get a report from her."

"Mmm." Numbuh 1 looked around. He was at Moonbase. He left the room he was in and headed toward Central Medlab. Amber- dead? He couldn't believe it. Maybe she'd pull through at the last second. Like on soap operas.

He smashed the door open- and saw a sight he didn't like. Twenty MedOps were crouched over a table with a bunch of tubes and such sticking out. Leaning in a corner was Cree, surprisingly, looking very worried.

A raven-haired KNurse spotted Numbuh 1. It was Numbuh 3. She ran over to him. "Numbuh 1!" she said. "You're alright!"

"Yeah yeah, how's Amber?"

"Not too good," she said dejectedly. "We can't find anything that'll save her."

Numbuh 1 sighed. "I'll wait outside then." He left the room.

A loud buzzer, a sob, and a shout of 'Clear!' ten minutes later told him more than he wanted to know.

* * *

I think you know what Numbuh 1 doesn't want to know. I do. -SP 


	24. The Sad Ending, Part 2

And here's the end of the Sad Ending. Only one more to go...Wow. I've spent almost nine months on this story. I'll be really glad when it's all over.

* * *

almostinsane: Thanks! 

Numbuh296: I know...

* * *

Chapter 21b: The Sad Ending, Part 2 

_We should have helped her._

A dull THUNK sounded as the lid was closed.

_We should have known it would end like this._

Her face dissapeared forever.

_We could have saved her. We could have saved them all. Our fear just made things worse._

Two of the stronger kids thrust the badly made coffin into the ground. Most of the KND was gathered around, heads bowed, saying all these things about her, like how brave she was and such. She was brave. That could not be denied.

Abby walked over to him as two operatives began piling the dirt into the hole. She put a hand on his shoulder. "Well, at least where she is now, she doesn't have to feel pain," she said.

"How are you so sure?" he said. "Nobody knows what's on the other side."

"Nigel, she lived a noble life and died a noble death."

"She was only eleven!"

"Yeah, but...she lived out what she had to do."

She looked past the grave and over the hill.

"When I was little, I once heard someone say that everyone in the world has a purpose. Once they serve that purpose, they die. Amber here served the purpose of teaching us that fear is the enemy.When we give in to fear, like Amber didn't, horrible things happen. Things that we regret. It's okay to feel fear, but not when it makes no sense."

"Wow, Numbuh 5. Th-that was beautiful." He wiped a tear from his eye.

"I know. I was rehearsing it for hours back home." She nodded. "But it's true. Amber's done all she had to do. Come on, the funeral's over. We should go home."

"That sounds like a good idea." They walked home together. The dying rays of sun shone upon the headstone at the grave:

_Amber Wigglestein  
An evil heritage does not stop  
The greatest of hearts.  
1994-2005_

**END TRANSMISSION**

* * *

Aand the world record for shortest chapter has come to a close! -SP 


	25. The Neutral Ending

Hyiuu! And now for the Neutral-AND FINAL-Ending! Dweeh!

Due to its shortness, I've put it all in one chapter. That means THIS IS THE LAST CHAPTER! WEEE!

Now, which idea to do next...

* * *

Velvet Panther: I haven't figured out that part yet. 

almostinsane: Thanks!

MusicAndy: Guessing you only read Chapter 1, it's both.

* * *

Chapter 20c: The Neutral Ending 

...put up a hand and blocked the shot. It rebounded on Father, who ducked. The blast of fire hit a KND vessel, which burst into flame.

Amber got up and kicked Father in the chest. He flew across the yard, hitting the smoldering wreckage that was his house. He tried to struggle up, but a beam fell on him.

"You'll pay for this one, Amber!" Father said.

"Oh, I don't think I will," Amber said. "I won't be around that long."

"Eh?" Numbuh 1 said, confused.

"You'll see." she made sure Father was securely trapped, then floated over to the KND. "You are all the greatest friends I could ever wish for," she said, "but I have to go now."

"Go? Where?"

"You'll find out," Amber said, holding up a glass of water that she had taken from a thirsty operative. She blasted the ground, making a small fire. "_Someday._" She poured the water onto the fire, making smoke. She dissapeared into the smoke. "I love you all," she said faintly.

When the smoke cleared, she wasn't there anymore.

* * *

_We have little idea what Amber did next._

_But what we do know, we will tell you._

_The way I say 'we', it's like a conspiracy is writing this story._

_Don't worry, it's just me._

_Anyway, the night Amber dissapeared, some food from a local store, some clothes from a clothing store, and a butterfly clip from a butterfly clip store dissapeared. Our little author conspiracy-did I say conspiracy? I mean, I hired a scout to trail her._

_Here is what we found- once Amber was well outside, she changed into the clothes she stole. She disguised herself as a teen, and used only parts of her powers, to move ro-hey, you could figure out who she disguised herself as that way, so forget it!_

_She wandered the world the world for months (don't worry about the poor scout, we put a tracking device on her-), rarely stopping to eat. However, one day, she came across a place that could hide her forever. A small Californian coastal city...called Jum-hey, you could figure out who she disguised herself as that way, so forget it!_

_She had heard about them. Defenders- they could help her straighten out her mixed up life. Somewhere she could run- people she could love._

_But she needed a name. So she called herself..._

_Ter-_

_Okay, you could DEFINITELY find out who she disguised herself as that way, so forget it!_

_If you can actually figure out who she is, you probably know what happens next._

**END TRANSMISSION**

* * *

Okay...I'm done. 

I'm done.

I'M DONE!

OPERATION A.M.B.E.R. IS OVER!

A many thanks to EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU-

**Annalisa, Jessica, Numbah Wierdo, dark hallway, Velvet Panther, Mdalia (BoxieRoxie), Meowth's Toon Dragon, Ginny-Hates-Them, almostinsane, Ranma Higurashi, Essyllus, midnight972, Numbuh 373, dark staranime, Purple Ghost Sausage, neosun7, vimpress, MemyselfandI, Out of touch with Reality, StoryCrafter, nooneimportant, Oracle Master, blitzkrieg414, Amanda, Anonymous, ash dude, superdork398, Gijinka Renamon, Numbuh296, and** **MuSiCaNdY!**

Credits:

Story by: StarfirePhantom  
Characters by: Mr.Warbuton  
Special Thanks To: See that bix boxa names up there?

Pant...pant...okay, I'm calm now.

Okay.

OPERATION A.M.B.E.R. IS OVER!

Fine, I'll stop!

hmm...

Now what?

Lessee...my next story will be...(this is not detirmined by the voting thing, as so few people did it, but by putting them in a very sweaty hat and choosing one)

**Teen Titans- Just Kids!**

Ah...I don't have the middle of this one worked out. Dweh...

Well, hope you had a great time.

-SP


End file.
